RALEIGH, N.C. _ Thousands of teachers, other school employees and their supporters marched through downtown Raleigh on Wednesday to demand that state lawmakers increase funding for public education and Medicaid.
A sea of protesters wearing red filed up Fayetteville Street from the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts toward the State Capitol and the Legislative Building.
They carried signs that talked about teacher pay, too much testing, the General Assembly and state school superintendent Mark Johnson. Pop culture messages abounded in their signs, from "Game of Thrones" to "Star Wars" to Ariana Grande.
Leslie Nunnery, an art teacher at Creedmoor Elementary School, held a sign saying "North Carolina Kids Are Worth It."
"I feel like we're failing our kids," Nunnery said. "I wasn't failed when I was a kid. I want people to be aware of the problems that we're facing."
Teachers came for the event from across the state, united by some of the same concerns. A trio of teachers from Wayne County said they represented many rural counties where teachers are required to have commercial drivers' licenses so they can drive school buses when necessary.
"I drive a bus at least two times a week," said Isaac Davenport, who teaches agricultural education.
One of his cohorts, Lana Beamon, a science teacher in Wayne County, said that is just one of many roles educators now play. They, along with Beamon's husband, Joe, said part of the reason they marched Wednesday was to push for at least $15 an hour in pay for school support staff.
"Without them, we couldn't do our jobs," Davenport said.
Organizers hope the May 1 "Day of Action" organized by the N.C. Association of Educators surpasses the crowd at last year's protest and builds on the momentum that they credit with helping to mobilize voters in the fall election to break Republican supermajorities in the legislature.
So many school employees requested Wednesday off that more than 850,000 public school students across North Carolina have the day off because there aren't enough substitute teachers to safely hold classes.
Marchers chanted a variety of slogans: "Education is a right! This is why we've got to fight!" "Hey, hey, ho, ho! Defunding schools has got to go! and "We are not skipping school when we teach the Golden Rule!"
Entrepreneurs saw opportunity in educators' anger. They walked through the clusters of teachers offering buttons and red T-shirts for sale.
Some in the crowd wore green ribbons on their red shirts to remember the victims in Tuesday's shooting on the UNC Charlotte campus.
The march drew non-teachers such as Lindsay Gaughran, 43, a parent at Stough Elementary in Raleigh who brought her two daughters.
"It's just so important to support the efforts here," Gaughran said. "The teachers need to be supported."
Local elected officials also came to the march, including Durham City Council members Vernetta Alston and Charlie Reece.
Outside the Capitol building on Wednesday morning, the NC State AFL-CIO was handing out water to people arriving for the march and rally.
NC State AFL-CIO President MaryBe McMillan said the unions of North Carolina are showing solidarity.
"We're out here to make sure that school employees are paid a fair wage. We believe that school bus drivers (and) cafeteria workers should have a minimum wage of $15 an hour," McMillan said. "We're out here to show solidarity and to show citizens of North Carolina that by standing up and standing together, we can get better from this legislature."
Inside the Legislative Building, a table was set up in with water, oranges, granola bars, Krispy Kreme doughnuts and a sign that read "Courtesy of NC House Democrats."
Nearby, two large signs read "Fact: Republican teacher raises are 3rd highest in the country in the last five years."
Marchers have five demands:
_ Provide a $15 minimum wage for school support staff, 5 percent raise for all school employees and a 5 percent cost of living adjustment for retirees.
_ Provide enough school librarians, psychologists, social workers, counselors, nurses, and other health professionals to meet national standard,
_ Expand Medicaid to improve the health of our students and families.
_ Reinstate state retiree health benefits for teachers who will be hired after 2021.
_ Restore extra pay for teachers with advanced degrees such as a master's degree.
The protest comes a day after state House leaders announced budget details that call for restoring extra pay for advanced degrees and pay raises ranging from 1 percent or $500 for school support staff to 4.8 percent for teachers, 6.3 percent for assistant principals and 10 percent for principals.
The House Appropriations Committee will vote on the budget Wednesday.
Republican legislative leaders have been critical of the march, pointing to how they've increased education funding over the past several years, including raising North Carolina's ranking on average teacher pay from 47th in the nation in 2013 to 29th this year.
But NCAE says the march has strong public support, pointing to a poll from Public Policy Polling that found that 71 percent of said they support teachers taking the day off to protest.
Republican lawmakers and Superintendent Johnson have also criticized the decision to hold the protest on a school day, causing at least 34 school districts and 10 charter schools to cancel classes. Those districts and charter schools that are closed Wednesday represent 56 percent of the state's 1.53 million public school enrollment.
Fewer districts canceled classes compared to last year. Some districts encouraged teachers to send small delegations from individual schools to this years protest while keeping school open.
This could be the last large-scale protest on a school day. The state House budget would limit when school could close in the future, including requiring principals to confirm they had a substitute teacher available before approving any personal leave requests.
Teachers in South Carolina are also planning to march on their state capitol on Wednesday.
The Civitas Institute, a conservative policy group, has questioned holding the event on May Day, a day associated with labor union events, and for using "Marxist symbolism" by having a red fist in logos promoting the event.
NCAE has called it offensive to say that the protest is Marxist. The group has said it's being done on May 1 because lawmakers are working on the state budget now.
