State legislators and anti-tax groups who say Kansans won’t support more taxes for their public schools might take a look at results from Tuesday’s election.

Three school districts in the Lawrence area passed bond issues Tuesday to improve their school facilities. The bond questions in Tonganoxie, Perry-Lecompton and Ottawa were approved by 59 percent, 64 percent and 54 percent, respectively.

The bond issues, of course, have different targets than state funding for schools. The locally approved bonds will be used to expand and upgrade buildings and provide new technology in the schools but it can’t be used for items like improved teacher salaries, even though many voters have expressed a willingness to use local tax money for that purpose.

What the local votes do show, however, is that taxpayers value their schools and are willing to raise their taxes to improve their children’s educational opportunities. That’s a basic message that shouldn’t be overlooked by state lawmakers.