When a group of small-city school districts filed a lawsuit against New York state last week, claiming the state should be giving them more aid, the attorney handling the matter said his clients were “not unmindful” of the state's current economic status.

But being mindful does not translate into being reasonable. This year's budget includes a record $1.75 billion increase in school aid, a jump of 8.9 percent over last year.

Most regular recipients of state aid outside the education sector would be thrilled at such funding, especially given the state's budget crisis.

How can any group that is actually receiving, on average, nearly 9 percent increases in funding from the state sue for more money in today's environment? Perhaps it's an unwillingness to do any belt-tightening themselves.

The lawsuit brought by 10 school districts from around the state (no local districts were listed as plaintiffs), was filed two days after the state released its latest financial updates.

The rapidly deteriorating revenue stream that New York counts on from Wall Street income is now projected to create a $12.5 billion state budget deficit in 2009-2010.

It's no secret that the state is in serious financial jeopardy. Legislators and the governor's office both have been saying for months that spending cuts are needed.

A special session is planned for later this month to work on the problem.

Faced with this situation, it would be smart for any entities that rely heavily on state aid, especially school districts, to approach the government with a spirit of cooperation so they can help figure out ways to minimize the pain.

This lawsuit takes the opposite approach. These plaintiffs don't want to work out a solution. They want to put taxpayer money into costly litigation and ultimately have a judge make a decision.