There are two certain signals that spring has sprung in Sacramento: a cacophony of sneezing among allergy sufferers as long-dormant trees, grasses and shrubs bloom, and mass budget demonstrations at the Capitol.

The first phenomenon has been under way for a couple of weeks; the latter made itself known Monday as several thousand community college students descended on Sacramento to protest a proposed increase in their fees.

The most significant aspect of the community college event, however, was the relatively small size of the protest crowd, probably less than half of the estimated 10,000 who turned out a year ago, one of the largest demonstrations ever seen at the Capitol.

While the signs denounced the fee increase - from $18 to $26 per unit - proposed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the speakers tried to whip the crowd into something approaching anger, it just didn't have the same intensity as previous protests.

That may reflect the simple fact that Schwarzenegger is much more popular personally than his predecessor, Gray Davis. When the community college students hit Sacramento a year ago, it coincided with the beginning of a recall drive that ultimately ousted Davis. Perhaps, however, it also reflects that with the state still facing a multibillion-dollar budget gap, community colleges are being treated much better under Schwarzenegger than under Davis and his predecessors. A little history is in order:

Writing a state budget became a politics-saturated, zero-sum game in the 1990s with clear winners and losers, and the community colleges were among the more conspicuous of the latter. The system of 100-plus local colleges had never developed a political network to match rival claimants on the state treasury, such as the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, the California Teachers Association, or the more prestigious four-year college systems. As a result, community colleges - despite their demonstrated cost-effectiveness - were perennial losers in the competition for state dollars, routinely shorted on even their voter-mandated piece of the budgetary pie.

Community college faculties, administrators, trustees and students awakened from their political slumber three years ago when Davis almost offhandedly proposed a big whack in state aid to the colleges while leaving other big-ticket programs intact.

Community college advocates descended on the Capitol and helped marshal legislators of both parties into forcing Davis to back down. And while they still haven't formed a permanent political apparatus, the community college folks at least no longer have a "kick me" sign hanging on their backs.

Last year's Capitol demonstration was aimed at a fee increase proposed by Davis. Eventually, fees were boosted from $11 to $18 a unit, and Schwarzenegger wants to boost them to $26 this year. In percentage terms, it's a big increase, but there are a few offsetting factors. First, even at $26, California fees would still be scarcely half of the national average - $780 a year for full-time students vs. the national average of $1,359. Currently, students are paying only 5 percent of their community college costs.

Secondly, Schwarzenegger isn't simply raising fees and cutting state aid, as Davis did. He's also boosting state funds by $150 million a year while - and this is an important political change - whacking state funds to the four-year systems. In other words, community colleges would finally be relative winners. Finally, by paying higher fees, California community college students would become eligible for federal aid grants that they cannot now receive.

The totality of the situation, even with the higher fees, is that community colleges are finally getting some official recognition for their cost-effectiveness, along with the cash that such recognition brings. Schwarzenegger's proposals implement, perhaps without intending to do so, the approach recommended by a recent report issued by the Public Policy Institute of California. The report, written by Patrick J. Murphy after a yearlong study, suggests higher fees and more state aid to enhance the community colleges' unique ability to offer low-cost, high-quality education to mass numbers of students.