Bay Area homeowners approved about half the proposed tax and bond measures Tuesday to beef up algebra classes, fix broken buildings and save teachers' jobs in school districts hard-pressed by the state's budget crunch.

While voters in many communities appeared sympathetic to the new taxes, some were rejecting the proposals.

Annual fees assessed to property owners known as parcel taxes require a two-thirds majority to pass, while bond measures require a 55 percent majority.

In the East Bay, voters were deciding measures in five districts in Alameda and Contra Costa counties:

-- In the city of Alameda's public school district, voters were willing to pay for a proposed $63 million construction bond to rewire classrooms built before the Internet and to add new classrooms where most buildings went up before 1950.

The measure also will replace the district's 1964 steam-heat boiler system with central heat and repair a leaky roof at Haight Elementary School that has ruined a musical keyboard and a play kitchen, and turned the carpet soggy.

"The leaks create a distraction," said kindergarten teacher Jane Martin. "Whenever it creates a wet spot on the carpet, my students all have to gather around it and discuss it."

-- A proposal put forward by state administrator Randy Ward to help pull the troubled Oakland school district out of debt and give teachers a pay raise was heading to victory.

The parcel tax would raise the current school tax from $123 to $195 a year through 2009. The additional $6 million a year generated by the tax would also pay for security guards, books, mentors and smaller classes.

Supporters said the parcel tax would ease Oakland Unified's reliance on the $100 million state bailout loan it received last year, when the state took it over as a result of financial mismanagement.

-- Dublin voters rejected a $180 annual parcel tax to get more students college-ready by increasing the number of algebra and foreign-language classes.

-- A proposal to raise the annual Moraga school tax from $129 to $325 to save teachers, librarians, counselors and janitors lost by a hair.

-- In the West Contra Costa district, an $80-a-year property tax to stave off elementary school closures and keep counselors and custodians lost. The district stretches from Hercules to Kensington and includes Richmond.

-- San Franciscans supported a proposed city charter amendment that would raise City Hall's contribution to public schools over the next four years from $8 million to $60 million.

The funding will continue through the 2014-15 school year and be split three ways between art, music, P.E. and libraries; preschool for all 4-year- olds; and general classroom purposes.

In the North Bay, voters were deciding measures in six districts in Marin and Sonoma counties.

-- A $12 million bond to modernize classrooms at Bacich Elementary and Kent Middle school in Kentfield that would cost homeowners $101 a year passed handily.

-- An $85 annual school levy to keep libraries open and continue vocational programs for viticulture, culinary arts and agriculture in Sonoma Valley Unified was losing.

-- A $55 parcel tax for the Old Adobe Union School District in east Petaluma was trailing. The tax would provide intensive reading programs and reduce class size.

-- Voters were saying no to an annual $75 parcel tax for the Petaluma City School District to maintain computer and technology programs, keep libraries open and bring back music, art and smaller classes for grades 4 through 8.

-- A request for $45 a year for the Wilmar Union School District in Petaluma was accepted by voters.

-- A $24 million bond to upgrade plumbing and electrical systems in the Rincon Valley Union School district for $65 a year was a winner.

Six South Bay school districts appealed to voters to approve or extend property taxes aimed at keeping schools open, raising teacher pay and maintaining small classes.

-- Voters gave a thumbs up to a proposal for $290 annually to maintain high academic scores and attractive teacher salaries in the Portola Valley School District in the wealthy foothills near Stanford University.

-- Ravenswood City School District in East Palo Alto's request for $98 a year to recruit teachers and give employees their first pay raise in four years sailed to victory.

The district, which serves 4,500 low-income, minority children, has suffered from mismanagement and turmoil that nearly led to a state takeover last year.

-- San Jose voters narrowly turned down the Union Elementary School District's request for $195 per parcel over four years to avoid closing two of its eight schools.

-- Voters in the Cambrian Elementary School District in west San Jose agreed to a proposal to reauthorize the Gann spending limit to continue to use a $63 parcel tax for music, art and physical education programs.

-- A similar measure in the Loma Prieta Joint Union School District in Los Gatos won authorization to continue a $150 parcel tax approved by voters in 2000.

-- A parcel tax based on property size in the Mountain View-Whisman school district passed.