Matthew Hardy

Juan Novella, a teacher at Fairmount Elementary in San Francisco, joins dozens of other teachers on Monday morning at Van Ness Avenue and McAllister Street to protest education cuts.

Updated May 10, 2011 at 4:57 p.m.

The state's two powerful teachers' unions are spending tens of thousands of dollars this week on a campaign to convince Republican lawmakers to support tax extensions.

But it's a campaign that is likely to fail, political strategists say, because the unions are targeting legislators who are strongly opposed to the extensions.

Gov. Jerry Brown has said that the extensions are needed to prevent deep cuts to already cash-strapped state programs, including $4.5 billion from the state's schools. But for months, he has been unable to get four Republicans--two from the Senate and two from the Assembly--to vote for the measures.

This week, the California Teachers' Association and the California Federation of Teachers are running radio ads in heavily Republican districts, urging voters to ask their legislators to support the tax extensions. The CTA's ads are in 13 GOP districts.  The union, which represents more than 300,000 teachers and other educators statewide, will spend a total of $3 million to $5 million on outreach efforts over the course of the budget negotiations, said Becky Zoglman, a union spokeswoman.

The CFT is spending $50,000 on radio spots in three GOP districts. The unions have also launched phone and letter-writing campaigns.

“We hope to convince a couple of Republicans that in order to protect education, they should be supporting the measures,” Zoglman said. “Let’s hope we keep them busy [with calls].”

But the campaign doesn't seem to be having much effect so far. Many GOP lawmakers say they will not consider the extensions, unless the unions agree to pension reform and limits on state spending.

In a phone interview Tuesday morning, Jann Taber, a spokesperson for Senate Republican leader Bob Dutton of Rancho Cucamonga, said his office had fielded roughly a dozen calls since Monday. But it was unlikely Dutton would be swayed unless the unions accept spending caps, as well as workplace and pension reforms, Taber said.

“The public employee union, known as the California Teachers Association, clearly fails to understand that there is no budget plan that does more to protect education funding than the path proposed by a number of Senate Republicans,” Dutton said in a written statement. “That path to a bi-partisan budget solution includes a hard spending cap budget reform proposal...”

Sen. Anthony Cannella, a target of both the CTA and CFT campaigns, is also pushing for a spending cap and pension reforms as part of the negotiations, his office said.

“Sen. Cannella couldn’t agree more about the importance of funding for education and public safety,” Jessica Hsiang, a spokeswoman for Cannella said in a written statement. “That’s the reason he’s been pushing for spending reform that prioritizes education so schools will experience more stable funding, reduced cuts and fewer teacher layoffs.”

Reed Galen, a Republican political strategist who was deputy campaign manager for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 2006 re-election campaign, said the unions’ campaign puts these Republicans in a difficult position.

“If they vote for tax increases, you can guarantee they will face another conservative candidate in the next election who will bash them over the head for raising taxes,” Galen said.

But Rob Stutzman, another Republican strategist in California, said the unions also have to play to their constituents.

“Their primary motivation is kabuki, to let it be seen and known that they are doing something,” Stutzman said. “I wouldn’t say it’s a complete waste of money, but its not going to close the deal. Republicans don’t want to raise taxes without pension reform or spending limits.”

Some Republicans argue that the extensions may not be necessary, because the state’s tax receipts are $2.6 billion ahead of forecast.

The lawmakers and the unions will find out how much money the state has--and how much money it may have to cut--on May 16th. That's when the governor releases his revised budget proposal for the next fiscal year.