It started in about the unlikeliest place you could imagine, but here's an isolated incident we'd like to see become a trend. Voters in the Irvine Unified School District -- yes, that's Orange County, folks -- looked at what the state's budget mess was doing to their schools and just said no. They taxed themselves this week, raising $3.3 million for the upkeep of school playing fields.

The district proposed an assessment district that, because it would fund amenities used jointly by the school and community, required a simple majority vote, instead of the usual two-thirds required for parcel taxes that pay for school programs. Sixty-four percent of voters -- in the case of this assessment district, all of them property owners -- understood the stakes and said yes. The money will free up some of the district's general funds, allowing it to keep alive academic programs that were headed straight for the chopping block.

Like virtually every district in the state, Irvine faces a budget shortfall, its unhappy inheritance from the state's mammoth deficit. In Irvine's case, the estimated gap was $5.4 million, a figure voters have just reduced by more than half. Under the assessment district, homeowners will pay about $49 a year, condominium owners about $33 and mobile-home owners about $23.

Though many districts are simply licking their wounds, some are actively seeking new revenue. Several Bay Area districts are considering parcel taxes soon. Affluent enclaves are passing the hat: Los Gatos embarked on a million-dollar drive, and San Lorenzo Valley is trying to raise $400,000 to prevent an elementary school closure. But lucky and few are the children who can rely on that kind of charity. If districts want to protect classrooms, they may want to look to Irvine's lead.