More than one-fifth of Missouri's public school districts will ask voters Tuesday to pay higher taxes to support education as state funding declines.

Failure of the ballot measures, say officials in many of the 114 districts, would force tough choices about such items as class sizes, up-to-date textbooks and athletic programs.

Some districts are seeking straight increases in property taxes, others a full or partial rollback of a sales tax that partially offsets property taxes. In addition, some voters will be deciding in Tuesday's elections whether to authorize bonds to build or repair schools.

No school districts in the area are seeking levy increases on Tuesday.

Jackson had a waiver of a state sales tax rollback approved by voters last November. The 2,590-to-369 vote allows Jackson schools to gain about $2 million this year without raising local taxes. The district's tax rate is $3.31 per $100 assessed valuation.

Cape Girardeau's school board voted in August not to raise the district's property tax rate, which was left at $3.99 per $100 assessed valuation. In January the board approved budget cuts worth $1.2 million.

St. Louis County's Hazelwood School District is seeking both a 98-cent property tax increase and a $65 million bond issue, which includes another 55-cent levy. The district's current total levy is $4.74 per $100 of assessed valuation, superintendent Chris Wright said.

Wright is counting on voters to keep in mind that while the levy may sound high, it generates less revenue than it would in other St. Louis County districts with higher property values.

"Our community -- they've been very clear about their direction," Wright said. "They believe it's the obligation of the state of Missouri to fund public education. But if the state of Missouri is not, we have no choice but to ask our local taxpayers to do that.

"Unfortunately, we have a number of legislators talking about not raising taxes," she added. "But the impact of their inaction is the reason you see so many tax increases being proposed at the local level by school districts."

The state has not provided districts the full amount of aid prescribed by the school funding formula for three years.

Asked about the apparent record number of districts seeking higher taxes this spring, Senate President Pro Tem Peter Kinder, R-Cape Girardeau, said simply, "Obviously, they're reacting to the current budget situation."

In southwest Missouri, the Carthage district is asking voters both to raise the property tax and to authorize a full waiver of what's known as the "Proposition C rollback."

Adopted in 1982, Proposition C is a 1-cent sales tax for education; half the revenue is supposed to be used to reduce or "roll back" property taxes. But districts may ask patrons to waive the rollback -- which has already been done in 450 of the state's 524 districts.

Carthage superintendent Gary Reed said his district wouldn't be seeking a tax increase if the state provided all the money schools are owed.

"Until the legislature finishes their work this spring, we really don't know what to expect for next year," he said. "It's just a pretty tenuous time in terms of school funding."

His district is seeking a 67-cent tax increase and a full Proposition C waiver, which together would bring the property tax rate to $3.91. Annual school taxes on a home with assessed valuation of $80,000 would rise to $594 from the current $492.

Reed said Carthage has already taken a knife to spending this year, cutting teaching positions and trimming budgets for athletics, field trips and school supplies.

"The entire athletic program is potentially in jeopardy if we can't come up with a solution from the state or local funding," he said.

The outcome of Tuesday's elections around Missouri could affect the state's formula for funding public schools. The formula rewards districts that raise their local tax rates, so if many districts' ballot measures succeed, those whose rates remain the same stand to lose some state funding.