PHOTOS: Education protests around California

Protesters wave signs during the demonstration at Pershing Square in downtown Los Angeles.  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

LOS ANGELES, CA-MARCH 4, 2010: Students protest during the so-called “Day of Action” in response to education cuts, in front of Pershing Square on 5th St. and Hill St. in Downtown Los Angeles on March 4, 2010. The education cuts have been especially severe in California where community colleges, Cal State and UC colleges have cancelled classes, ordered furloughs and layoffs, and enacted unprecedented student fee hikes. (Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times)  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Students from Santee High School and West Adams Preparatory High School near downtown L.A. call on other Santee students to join them in protest.  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Students from Santee High School and West Adams Preparatory High School near downtown Los Angeles urge other Santee students to join in the protests against education cuts.  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Students from nearby high schools march through the downtown Los Angeles area.  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

High school students call on others to join in their protest.  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Students loudly urge others to take part in the demonstration.  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Nicoal Sheen, a political science major, center, rallies the crowd.  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

A drummer, center foreground, is among the protesters.  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

There are signs aplenty at the demonstration.  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Students dance to a zydeco band at the demonstration.  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Courtney Boyd, 23, a senior dance major, adds her own touch to the day’s events.  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

A student strips down to his underwear and takes a dip in a fountain during the protests.  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Gender studies major Cyrus Fernandez, 23, center, is among the demonstrators.  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Sam McClellan, 23, a senior film major, joins hundreds of Cal State Long Beach students, teachers and parents in a rally and protest during a national day of protests against education funding cuts.  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Hundreds gather in Bruin Plaza at UCLA to protest continuing budget cuts and fee increases in public education. Similar protests across the country are billed as a “Day of Action for Public Education” and spotlight severe cuts in education that have struck schools from coast to coast.  (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

Trade union members form a picket line Thursday in Bruin Plaza at UCLA to protest continuing budget cuts and fee increases in public education.  (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

Protesters are reflected in sunglasses at UCLA. Similar protests across the country are billed as a “Day of Action for Public Education” and spotlight severe cuts in education that have struck schools from coast to coast.  (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

Union members use their pickets to cover up a placard of a supporter of Lyndon LaRouche during a protest Thursday in Bruin Plaza at UCLA.  (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

Hundreds gather Thursday in Bruin Plaza at UCLA to protest continuing budget cuts and fee increases in public education.  (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)