I want to control PLAYLIST ORDER (NOT songs in PLAYLIST)

Order of playlists is inconsistent between iTunes and mobile devices, and very hard to get in a controlled order in iTunes. (default is only alphabetical)! ***note, PLAYLIST ORDER IN SIDEBAR, not order of tracks in a playlist) I am a MUSIC and DANCE teacher and constantly need to change playists quickly and put the MOST IMPORTANT CURRENT LISTS OF THE DAY at the TOP, by putting "underscores" ______ to force them out of alphabetical order. Then the iPHONE changes them, and IGNORES the massive number of UNDERSCORES (which can control the order) and goes strictly by the first letter, resulting in a CHAOTICALLY different playlist order on different devices.

I go to workshops with hundreds of music teachers who also go to competitions, and need to control the playlist order, but we've all given up other than trying to use the underscore ___, the number of underscores based on how high up you need the playlist to be. It does seem tedious, is there a better way?