Her two daughters, Antara and Meghana, will go to Redwood Middle School this year. "I shop online. I go to Target and Mervyns," she said.

Los Gatan Mark Weiner, parent of twin daughters at Blossom Hill Elementary School, has purchased clothes and backpacks for his children in the last few weeks. "We have also been buying school supplies," he said.

If Thirumale and Weiner lived in Connecticut, they would not have to pay sales tax on the items they have been buying. Connecticut, the District of Columbia and 10 other states in the country offer sales tax exemptions on certain days this time of the year for those buying school supplies.

California is not among them.

Weiner said that if he did get a sales tax exemption on school supplies, he would try to use the money to help the local school system. "People in this area are not hurting for money. But it would definitely help the less affluent areas in the state if parents did not have to pay sales tax," Thirumale said.

Jackie Baer, a teacher at Argonaut Elementary School in Saratoga, who spends a lot of money out of her own pocket every year on school supplies, said an exemption would really help. "I buy picture-books, pencils and lots of little things for my students," she said.

Some years ago, the California Retailers Association backed legislation in Sacramento that would have brought a similar tax break to California, but it failed. "It is [tax exemption] good for the consumer. It is also a way to boost retail sales," Bill Dombrowski, president of the association, said. He said the state would also benefit from a tax holiday because consumers buying back-to-school supplies often buy other items at the store. "But with the budget shortfall issues, the legislation did not pass," he said.

Colleen Wilcox, superintendent of the Santa Clara County Office of Education, said that the issue has come up for discussion more than once in the last 20 years but has never gone very far in the legislative process. "If you create tax breaks, you reduce the amount of money in the general fund. Consequently, there is less money coming into schools," she said. "Emotionally, I would like to see it happen but ultimately you are further decreasing the funds available," she said.

Superintendent Jack O'Connell of the California Department of Education in Sacramento said he would support a measure that would bring tax breaks for back-to-school supplies. "We need to do everything we can. I would also like to see a program that gives tax credit to teachers," O'Connell said. "I used to be a teacher in Ventura County. I remember buying this huge world map for $40. I was paying out of my own pocket and it was a lot of money 30 years ago."

O'Connell said that teachers all around the state would really appreciate any sort of tax exemption when they buy things for school. "We're not doing everything we can for our teachers," he said.

The back-to-school tax break was first initiated by the state of New York in 1997.