Students protest education cuts in Sacramento rally

Thousands of college students are converging on California’s state capital to protest rising tuition rates and demand that state lawmakers restore funding for higher education.

Organizers said they expect as many as 10,000 students and other protesters to participate in the “Fund our Future” march and rally. Buses were transporting students from as far away as the University of California, Riverside, 450 miles south of Sacramento.

Law enforcement officers lined up en masse on streets near the Capitol, and a California Highway Patrol helicopter flew overhead as protesters marched toward the building.

Other groups, including those affiliated with the Occupy movement and a proposed tax on millionaires, were also taking part.

The rally comes four days after college students held demonstrations, marches, walkouts and teach-ins at about 30 campuses across California.