From Humboldt State in the north to UC San Diego in the south and many colleges, high schools and elementary campuses in between, the lessons Thursday will be in how to protest state cuts in education funding.

Rallies, teach-ins and student walkouts are scheduled throughout California, and around the nation, in what organizers describe as a "Day of Action" in opposition to teacher layoffs, furlough days and rising student fees. Much of the day’s activities are being organized by labor unions and student government organizations, which predict that thousands of students, faculty and staff will participate.

In the Los Angeles area, events are planned Thursday morning and afternoon at, among other campuses, UCLA, Cal State Long Beach, Cal State Northridge and Santee High School. The largest rally is expected to start at 4 p.m. at downtown Los Angeles’ Pershing Square, followed by a march to the state office building on Spring Street that houses an office for the governor.

Campus police forces said they are preparing for large turnouts that might spill into surrounding neighborhoods in places such as Westwood and Berkeley. Last week, demonstrators in Berkeley damaged a UC building under renovation and then set fire to trash cans in the nearby Telegraph Avenue shopping district, and officials fear a repeat of that Thursday.

-- Larry Gordon

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