California State Sen. Ted Gaines stood firm.

For weeks, the Roseville Republican withstood pleas from school officials in his north state Senate district to let voters decide whether to extend taxes and avert what could be sizable budget cuts.

Gaines and his fellow Republicans in the Legislature refused to go along with a proposal by Gov. Jerry Brown and Democratic legislators to solve California's budget deficit with a combination of funding cuts and tax extensions.

Elected this year on an anti-tax theme, Gaines said his constituents overwhelmingly oppose extending the 2009 tax increases. "People tell me all the time 'Don't increase taxes,' " he said.

Many public school leaders in Gaines' district share a different perspective. Eleven of 76 school systems in the district are on the state's watch list of districts failing financially. Among them are four in El Dorado County, two in Placer County, and three in eastern Sacramento County.

"We're a conservative county and it's very fashionable to say no to taxes, but this is irresponsible," said Calaveras County Supervisor Merita Callaway, a registered Democrat. "People move up here for the natural environment and the education and lifestyle. If education goes down, is that going to encourage people to move here?"

At the least, she said, Gaines should have let the public vote on the tax measures at the ballot box.

Gaines is the most visible local legislator in the anti-tax coalition. His Senate District 1 sprawls over a dozen counties, from Mono in the south to Modoc along the Oregon border, taking in hundreds of thousands of voters.

About 450,000 out of the half million registered voters in the district live in Placer and El Dorado counties and the eastern portion of Sacramento County, including Elk Grove, Rancho Cordova and Folsom.

Most voters whom Gaines represents are Republican, with Democratic majorities only in Alpine and Nevada counties.

In heavily Republican Placer County, Roseville Realtor Cheri Murphy said almost everybody supports Gaines' stand. "Most people in this area are against more taxes," she said. "The general feeling is to keep taxes low."

Murphy said residents of the Roseville area believe they have done their part for public schools by voting for bonds over the years to fund new school facilities.

Planning for the worst

Still, as district after district has run out of funds to operate without cuts, cries for relief have come from Gaines' home turf, too.

"This is our third year in a row of budget cuts, and we can only do that for so long," said Gayle Garbolino-Mojica, Placer County superintendent of schools.

She said parents are concerned about the prospects of higher class sizes, fewer electives, a shorter school year and limited busing.

In rural Eastern Sierra Unified in Mono County, the threatened state funding cut means that students who are bused as far as 35 miles to school may no longer have transportation, said Stacey Adler, county superintendent of schools.

She said every teacher in the school district has been given a pink slip.

Across the state and region, large numbers of teachers and school administrators supported the tax extension plan floated by Brown. Elk Grove Unified Superintendent Steven Ladd was among those who pleaded his case at the Capitol.

Ladd's district has prepared a budget for a "worst-case" scenario next school year that would see the district getting $679 less per student than the state currently funds. That would create a $40 million budget gap that the district says it would plug by increasing class sizes, laying off teachers and freezing health care benefits. As state funding has fallen in recent years, the district has closed libraries, cut sports programs and furloughed teachers.

"Three years ago, reports said (California schools) were inadequately funded," Ladd said. "Now we are struggling to hold our position, which is at the bottom of the barrel."

In their "worst-case" budget scenarios, Folsom Cordova Unified proposes reducing the counseling staff and trimming two-thirds of the sports budget, while San Juan Unified would eliminate adult education and busing.

"I'm very disappointed in him," Jeanette Amavisca, Elk Grove Unified trustee, said of Gaines. "It's not a new tax, it's an extension of an existing tax, and it's to save our kids."

In the last three years, the state has reduced education funding by $18 billion. Because of reduced aid, the state has allowed districts to shorten the school year from 180 to 175 days and expand class sizes.

Based on what the governor has said, California schools expect to lose another $2.3 billion without the tax extensions – an average of $330 per student, according to School Services of California, an education consulting firm.

Gaines sees room to cut

Gaines, whose school-age children attend a private Christian school in Placer County, said there is room to cut. He said the cost of education can be reduced by relaxing regulation and trimming the California Department of Education.

He said public schools should have more autonomy, with money flowing directly to them. The senator would like to see the Education Code rewritten and fewer constraints for charter schools.

He acknowledged that this kind of change could take years.

"We should have done this four years ago," said Gaines, who was elected to the state Senate in January and previously was an assemblyman for four years. "The state painted itself in a corner."

In the meantime, he suggests districts cut administration to reduce expenses.

"When they say there is room to cut, this is outright ignorance," said Tom Alves, executive director of the San Juan Teachers Association.

Locally, school districts have made substantial cuts after years of deficits. In the last four years, the number of districts on the state's financial watch list has grown from 22 to 110.

Gaines couldn't say whether the state could afford to support bankrupt schools, but did recommend that more financially troubled districts consider consolidating.

With the tax extension plan dead for now, educators are uneasy about what's ahead. So far, the Legislature has reduced the state deficit to $15.4 billion. School leaders are getting differing estimates from different analysts about exactly how an all-cuts solution to that deficit would play out for public schools, which represent 40 percent of the state budget.

While School Services projects funding cuts of $330 per student, some school leaders suggest that – unless new revenue is found – future cuts could mean as much as $1,000 less per student. That's about a fourth of the funding for one year in Placer County schools, Garbolino-Mojica said.

"I can't imagine what that looks like," she said.

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Call The Bee's Diana Lambert, (916) 321-1090. Reporter Phillip Reese contributed to this report.

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