A throng of teachers, parents and students descended on the Tacoma Public Schools central office early Friday, marching, waving signs and imploring district leaders to listen and offer teachers a fair contract.
The downtown gathering took on the feel of a pep rally, with a mass of teenagers gathered on a grassy area facing Tacoma Avenue South, chanting messages such as “We support our teachers!”
Some adults chanted “93 percent, 93 percent” as they marched, referring to results of Thursday’s vote by members of the Tacoma Education Association to continue striking until a tentative contract agreement is reached.
Music teachers and students brought instruments and provided a soundtrack for the picketing – songs such as “Eye of the Tiger” and “Don’t Stop Believin’. ”
Police officers couldn’t get an accurate headcount because the crowd was too spread out, said Tacoma police spokesman Mark Fulghum. A picket captain estimated it numbered around 2,000 people.
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http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/09/17/1827644/pep-rally-for-teachers-pulls-crowd.html#ixzz1YDMFqQ9BPEP RALLY, MY ASS! This is what democracy looks like! This is what strikers look like after marching 14 miles a day for four straight days. They can't arrest us all. We are the tax base in Tacoma. They need our paychecks as much as we do.