Thousands of teachers stage walkout, rally in downtown Seattle to send message to lawmakers

SEATTLE -- It's not the first strike and it won’t be the last.

But Tuesday’s rally was the biggest one yet.

About 4,400 teachers from Seattle, Mercer Island and Issaquah gathered in downtown Seattle.

They warmed up before the main rally outside eight different high schools.

Then it was off for a one-day protest against the state's education budget.

Teachers marched from the Seattle Center to Westlake Center, where speakers spoke in front of a massive crowd.

"Legislators are not doing their job right now; they are in contempt,” Washington Education Association President Jonathan Knapp said.

A sea of red T-shirts and signs for blocks on end clogged traffic and got drivers'  attention.

“I think it's getting the point across. Personally, I wouldn’t know anything about this had this not have happened,” driver Stephanie Calkins said.

That's exactly why teachers and even parents took to the streets. They want the public support.

“This cause is the biggest civil rights issue of our time,” teacher Michelle Green Spenser said.

“We have three kids, so class sizes are really important to us. It affects them, it affects their learning,” parent Tascha Madaffari said.

Madaffari brought all three of her children to fight for smaller class sizes, higher teacher salaries and a bigger overall budget for education.

“We know right now we have a teacher shortage. That’s largely because they (potential teachers) look at teacher salary and say, 'I can’t live on that,'” Knapp said.

Teachers say time is up for lawmakers and they want changes now.

From Westlake Center, teachers marched back to the Seattle Center, hoping the one-day protest will make a difference.

Teachers at more than a dozen other school districts in the state are expected to walk out this week.