As a single mum of two and education support worker, a day's pay means a lot to Luisa Thiedeman.
That she loves her work at a Melbourne school for autistic children is yet another reason she prefers not to take days off.
Yet, when she learned public teachers and staff across Victoria would be going on strike on Thursday to demand better pay and conditions, her support was guaranteed.
"If I miss a day's salary, that's a big deal for me," Ms Thiedeman told AAP outside state parliament as the mass protest began to wind down.
"But I feel so passionately about it, I want to be a part of this and I want to make it right."
Specialist schools such as her own were underfunded and under-resourced, she said, with students often vastly outnumbering staff.
"We do not have the relevant resources that we need on a daily basis to help out students," she said.
Ms Thiedeman was among an estimated 20,000 Victorian teachers, support staff and school leaders who took to the streets of Melbourne's city centre on Thursday.
It followed a vote by members of the Australian Education Union's Victorian branch against the state government's latest pay offer, after protracted negotiations.
The revised pitch of a 28.3 per cent pay rise over four years was narrowly defeated, opposed by 51.18 per cent of members.
The statewide teachers strike, the second since March, brought major disruptions to public school classes but all sites remained open.
Deputy Premier and Education Minister Ben Carroll lamented the flow-on effects for parents and students.
"Families are already juggling a lot, and today's disruption is disappointing," he said.
"This deal would have made Victorian teachers and education support staff the best paid in the country together with the best conditions."
Outside parliament, the union's branch president Justin Mullaly foreshadowed a third statewide strike was possible.
"If we need to, we will stop work again," he said.
However, the union moved to allay concerns among parents about the impact on classrooms in an open letter published in major Melbourne newspapers on Friday.
"We know that stop work action is disruptive for parents and students, and we don't do this lightly," Mr Mullaly said.
"Families need to know why we're taking this action."
Mr Mullaly said students would be better served under a fully funded and staffed state school system, noting only three in 10 teachers planned to remain working in public schools until retirement.
While the pay offer was significant, Ms Thiedeman said most specialist education staff like her would still struggle to get by.
"None of us want to leave," she said.
"But I guarantee without a (better) pay rise, some of us will have to."
