In recent weeks school districts have rolled out doomsday budgets that call for hundreds of layoffs, larger class sizes, the elimination of sports and the end of glee club and cheerleading.

School boards say drastic cuts are needed to balance budgets if tax extensions proposed by Gov. Jerry Brown aren't put on the ballot by state lawmakers and approved by voters in June.

Will the cuts really play out as described? Or are educators choosing programs popular with parents so they will lobby lawmakers to put the tax measure to a vote?

Jonathan Raymond, superintendent of Sacramento City Unified, admits the decision to target sports programs was political. "The reality is that with athletics, people take notice," he said. "If it's the only thing to get people to step up and mobilize, it's worth it.

"Frankly, the public outcry is needed."

School boards are outlining cuts for the 2011-12 school year to meet a state-mandated deadline of March 15 to issue preliminary pink slips to teachers. They can revisit those budgets once they know the fate of the tax extension measure and whether employee unions make further concessions.

Last month, Brown said he would not propose further cuts in funding for public schools if voters pass a June 7 ballot measure to extend three tax increases. If the measure doesn't make it to the ballot or if it fails to pass, he is warning that grades K-12 and community colleges could face billions in cuts.

Salaries make up more than 80 percent of district budgets. With so many jobs on the line, teachers unions and educators are lobbying hard for the tax extensions.

At least 250 local school boards have passed resolutions in support of the extensions. Some superintendents also are advocating via district websites.

"Please ask your family, friends and neighbors throughout the state to contact their elected officials to support getting these extensions on the ballot," Raymond said in a March 3 online message.

Last week, a bank of computers was set up in the lobby before a Twin Rivers Unified board meeting so the public could send a form letter to legislators.

Catherine Goddard, treasurer of Educate Our State, a nonprofit advocating for the extensions, has been invited to talk about the issue at meetings for Twin Rivers and Elk Grove Unified.

"I advocate, talk to parents and encourage them to advocate," Goddard said. "I help them to understand how it is working and why it should be on the ballot."

School districts have an obligation to educate parents about the consequences of the tax extensions failing, said Steven Ladd, Elk Grove Unified superintendent. "Nothing precludes a school board from putting out information," he said.

Students are taking part in the effort, too. At McClatchy High School, they have organized a letter-writing campaign to legislators.

Is the political activity legal?

School districts and other entities funded by taxes can't advocate for a tax measure once it's on the ballot, said Dave Gordon, superintendent of Sacramento County schools. Before that, he said, districts have more latitude.

Jon Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Organization, calls this sort of advocacy a "legal gray area" and says it "pushes the envelope of the law."

Raymond agreed that there is a gray area between informing and advocating. "That's an area I'm willing to be in," he said. "I will go right to the edge, wherever the edge is."

Pia Wong, a professor at Sacramento State who has two kids in Sacramento City Unified schools, said the district is right to mobilize parents. Wong, who attended a meeting the district hosted on the budget Tuesday night, said the proposed cuts are enough to make her consider putting her children in private school.

Another parent at the meeting urged Raymond to use unconventional methods – "like skywriting" – to get the word out.

The California Teachers Association has thrown its considerable weight behind the effort as well. On its website, it has a "call to action" that includes 17 tips for mobilizing the community, such as forming human chains of teachers, parents and students around schools in the morning.

Even if tax extensions pass, most districts still face cuts because of increased costs that won't be funded. Because of the uncertainty, many have opted to come up with two budgets – one if the extensions fail and one if they pass.

The majority of local districts are basing their worst-case budgets on losing $350 per student annually, a figure recommended by School Services of California, which serves as a consultant to school districts.

But some districts are taking a more conservative approach. Elk Grove Unified, for example, is delivering 972 pink slips to employees and making other cuts to save $34.9 million – or $679 per child.

Ladd said there is nothing political about the approach. "We don't have a choice. These are very, very Draconian times."

Ladd said the district came up with $679 per child by looking at various projections.

"It's better than coming up to June and finding out we didn't go far enough and what are we going to do?" he said.

© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.

Call The Bee's Diana Lambert, (916) 321-1090.