At the same time school board members in Lawrence and across the state are wringing their hands over serious budget-cutting decisions, members of the Kansas House are playing legislative games.

After abruptly ending debate several days ago on Gov. Kathleen Sebelius’ school finance proposal, the House returned to the issue through the back door Tuesday by amending the spending provisions of the measure into a routine property tax bill that originally had nothing to do with school finance. But with full knowledge that they were creating a bill that would spend $270 million that the state wouldn’t have, House members then rejected the sales and income tax increases the governor had proposed to fund her plan.

The final bill, House Speaker Doug Mays conceded, “really doesn’t have a great deal of meaning.” The only significance of the bill, the speaker said, was that it included a provision that would allow local districts to raise local taxes to fund schools.

The message House Democratic Leader Dennis McKinney drew from the vote was slightly more hopeful. He contended that the vote indicated that a majority of House members want to see increased funding for schools.

In fact, the chamber later gave tentative approval to a one-year plan to provide an additional $137 million in state aid to school districts. Unfortunately, House members still didn’t address where that money would come from.

Democrats reportedly said the proposal would help address the concerns of Shawnee County District Judge Terry Bullock, who has ruled that the state’s school finance formula is unconstitutional. While additional funding may ease the judge’s concern about the underfunding of state schools, any measure that increases use of local tax money for local schools will only contribute to funding inequities that also troubled Bullock.

House members trying to jockey for political advantage may find games such as those they engaged in Tuesday amusing, but Kansas school districts struggling to make ends meet have every reason to be annoyed or even enraged by their antics. While Lawrence school board members are considering eliminating some sports programs and sixth-grade band and orchestra — and dealing with the fallout from distressed parents and students — the actions of legislators seem to indicate they remain oblivious to the painful decisions local districts are having to make.

Legislators may not be able to take all the pain away for local school districts, but the least they can do is show some respect for the difficulties those districts are facing by dropping the political games and focusing on the issue at hand.