Legislators, educators, students and Silicon Valley executives Friday urged a crowd of more than 400 people in San Jose to campaign for a new approach to reversing three years of damaging budget cuts to public higher education: higher taxes.

With the state facing a $15 billion deficit, ``promises of no fees and more access are not realistic,'' said state Sen. John Vasconcellos, D-San Jose. ``We can't balance the budget without either cutting or raising revenue.''

The town hall meeting at San Jose State University is one of a dozen events addressing higher education around the state leading up to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's release of his May budget update.

The San Jose event was sponsored by the California State Democratic Caucus and the California Faculty Association, the statewide union representing faculty, counselors, librarians and coaches at the California State University system's 23 campuses.

Vasconcellos said about 100,000 students would lose access to public higher education under the governor's January budget proposal. He said he and others are working on a plan to take to Schwarzenegger to preserve California's guarantee of universal access to public higher education.

``He has not said he won't raise taxes,'' Vasconcellos said, adding the most likely candidates are increased taxes on ``top-bracket wealth'' and the sales tax.

In January, the governor proposed cutting more than $400 million in state funding to the University of California and CSU systems, after two previous years of reductions. His budget plan calls for diverting 10 percent of freshmen to community colleges and reducing financial aid while fees are rising.

Carl Guardino, president and CEO of the Silicon Valley Manufacturing Group, said his organization historically has actively supported higher taxes to fund state priorities.

``Our global competitiveness depends on having a state budget that allows access to every student seeking a UC, CSU or community college education,'' said Guardino, a San Jose State graduate.

Kim Polese, founder of Marimba and a UC graduate, said ``higher education is the oxygen of Silicon Valley and our high-tech economy. California's economic competitiveness is directly dependent on the quality and stature of its university system.''

But Bruce Olszewski, a longtime lecturer in environmental studies at San Jose State, had doubts about whether the public would go for higher taxes.

``I think the public voted for Schwarzenegger because they wanted the car tax back, they wanted the money back,'' he said. ``They don't give a damn about anything else. They don't care about education. They don't care about the environment. All they care about is money. They are throwing away their kids' futures.''

Budget cuts so far have meant fewer classes and fewer spots for new students.

One of those students is Norma Gallan, 17, student-body president at Clayton Valley High School in Concord. Norma has a 3.75 grade-point average and dreamed of attending a UC campus. In March, UC offered her deferred admission if she attends community college first.

``It hurts. I tried so hard all through high school,'' she said. ``I did everything right. I achieved all the goals they wanted.''

Since 1994, state spending on higher education has dropped from 16 percent of the state general fund to 11 percent under the governor's budget proposal, said state Sen. Wesley Chesbro, D-Santa Rosa, a member of the Senate Education Committee.

Lupe Medrano, 47, a blind single mother who is studying social work at San Jose State, said she came to the meeting because she wanted to air her views.

``When my son gets out of high school, he wants to be a paramedic and I want to make sure there's a college there for him,'' she said. ``If they turn away students, what are those students going to do? Work at McDonald's? It's really pretty bleak.''