"In Canutillo, we're looking at about a little less than a $3.6 million cut right now," said Canutillo Independent School District Superintendent Damon Murphy.

"We stand to lose anywhere from $15 to 30 million," said El Paso Independent School District chief financial officer Ken Parker.

The financial equations equal job loss.

"Once you start doing this, once you start cutting the classroom teachers, you really start getting into the instructional issues, class size issues and you're talking the education of our students," said Murphy.

Officials direct much of their frustration at state lawmakers. Socorro ISD superintendent Xavier de la Torre said politicians claim to support education, but he said it's just political rhetoric.

"There actions at the state level don't speak to education as a priority," said De la Torre.

Not leaving it in the hands of lawmakers, CISD and SISD hope El Pasoans will vote yes on multimillion dollar bond issues. In addition, the CISD hopes voters also approve a property tax increase that will help support academic programs and teacher salaries.

"If the TRE (Tax Ratification Election) is not successful, well have to reduce probably another 7 or 8 percent below that and that's really going to start getting into the education of the students and really start affecting our instruction at a really negative level and that's something we want to voter to really consider," said Murphy.

If the Canutillo TRE were to pass, property taxes would increase by 13 cents for every $1,000. Early voting begins Monday.