A protest or demonstration will be coming to a school or college campus near you on Thursday, March 4^th.

That’s what the state’s two teachers unions, the California Teachers Assn. and the California Federation of Teachers, are designating their “Day of Action,” in which teachers hope to rouse people’s attention to the impact of current and likely budget cuts. CTA announced it will be running a 1-minute radio ad promoting the day on 84 stations  between now and then.

The statewide protest will occur at the same time that school boards are voting on preliminary layoff notices, so there will be plenty of angry teachers and parents. Districts must notify teachers by March 15 if jobs may be eliminated, and, indications are tens of thousands of teachers will be notified. Last year, many got back their jobs when Washington filled in cuts with stimulus dollars. But that won’t likely happen this year. And if their jobs are spared, it may be because unions have agreed to slice  five days off the school year; Los Angeles Unified Superintendent Ray Cortines is the latest to propose this. .

It’s been hard for school board and teachers to convey to the public the impact of raising kindergarten classes from 20 to 30 students, or eliminating art and music or laying off counselors or cutting high school electives. The effects, on children’s learning and motivation, on test scores, on the dropout rate and on teacher morale, cannot be quantified immediately. They’re personal, anecdoatal but undeniable.

Teachers will be outside before school talking to parents, lining up empty desks to signify vanishing teachers, forming a human chain to “protect” their school. CTA has set up a web site, standupforschools.org as a clearinghouse on the day’s events. Other Education Coalition members — the  Association of California School Administrators and the California School Boards Association – also have endorsed the Day of Action.

The intent is to send a message to Sacramento, but it’s not clear what it is, other than a plaintive plea for help. The CTA is underwriting initiative drives to rescind $1.7 billion worth of tax corporate tax breaks, but it hasn’t yet endorsed a drive for a constitutional amendment to lower the threshold for passing a parcel tax or approving the state budget by a majority vote instead of two-thirds.

The Federation of Teachers is planning mobilizations on college campuses, which will occur one day before the union begins a 48-day March for California’s Future, from Bakersfield to Sacramento, ending with a big rally at the Capitol.