Bainbridge was there in force.

More than 500 island teachers, administrators and staff, parents and kids trekked to Olympia Tuesday for the Washington Education Association “Day of Action” in support of public education funding.

They had a lot of company; a crowd estimated at 25,000 marched the mile from Capitol Lake Park to gather at the rally site east of the capitol grounds.

“It really is amazing to see this many people,” said Patti Schlosser, head of the Bainbridge teachers’ union. “I think if any legislator were to talk about ‘whining teachers,’ they would be very foolish. Surely they must recognize the strength we have behind us.”

The marchers chanted a message for legislators, the same motto printed on the plastic ponchos handed out by rally organizers, the Washington Education Association:

“Keep the Commitment.”

The commitment they had in mind was full funding for two voter-passed initiatives – one reducing class sizes, the other giving cost-of-living adjustments to educators and staff – that Gov. Gary Locke proposes to suspend for the coming biennium.

Suspending the initiatives would save the state, which faces a $2 billion budget deficit, some $550 million, the governor says.

Marchers were greeted by local well-wishers who clapped and cheered. Olympia resident Jim Moyle, whose parents Sam and Selma Moyle live on Bainbridge, and daughter Ami handed out cookies from Costco-sized boxes.

“We bought ‘em, we’re feeding ‘em,” Moyle said, calling to the marchers: “Any hungry teachers?”

As the crowd packed into the open lawn around the podium the mood was upbeat. Marchers danced to a steel-drum band. Soap bubbles rising in rainbow columns and a sprinkling of brightly costumed marchers contributed to the festival atmosphere.

“I went into the visitors’ center, and they said it was the largest crowd – of any kind – they’d ever seen,” said Bainbridge school board president Cheryl Dale, who marched with her three children.

Nearly 100 school districts in western Washington closed for the day, and others stayed open but sent representatives to the rally. Simultaneous marches in Yakima and Spokane drew 5,000 and 1,5000 participants respectively.

The massive but well-behaved crowd soon trampled the grass into mud. The Bainbridge contingent lost each other in the crush, prompting Sakai science teacher Doug Olson to half-jokingly suggest helium balloons with a Bainbridge logo for the next rally.

Ironic chants of “We want Terry” invoked the absent state Superintendent of Schools Terry Bergeson, who had declined to appear, writing in an email to teachers statewide that she could not “be a part of an activity that closes schools.”

While the rally drew some criticism for closing schools, it was endorsed by the Bainbridge Island School Board and Superintendent Ken Crawford, who was among a dozen superintendents statewide to give their support. Participation came at a price: administrators burned a vacation day, and teachers gave up a day of pay.

Crawford, who also made a radio spot for the Washington Education Association, said state education funding has been eroding for a decade.

“When support for education has dropped in 10 years from 48 percent to less than 43 percent devoted to funding K-12,” he said, “what is it about that that legislators don’t understand?”

The many signs held aloft were a ubiquitous reminder of the seriousness of the day’s theme, urging lawmakers to honor Washington’s constitutional mandate to “amply fund” education.

“$30 car tabs are robbing your children’s future” read one hand-lettered sign and the slogan “We need smaller classes” bobbed next to “We live in a shack because you took our COLA back.”

Nikki Andres, a first-grade teacher at Sarah J. Anderson Elementary in Vancouver, moved the crowd to roars of approval when she laid out the dilemma of large classes.

“How are we expected to ‘leave no child behind’ if we can’t see the end of the line when they’re walking down the hallway?” she said.

Bainbridge teachers pointed to the need for tax reform.

“Why not nullify Tim Eyman’s (tax-cutting) initiatives?” Blakely music specialist Jeremy Rothbaum said. “Because they consider teachers to be the path of least resistance.”

Teachers say the effects of low pay are exacerbated by the need to work unpaid hours, most often evaluating student work.

Bainbridge High School language arts teacher Ben deGuzman even brought papers to grade on the bus.

“If nothing else, it’s always a good reminder for legislators to see the number of people they are impacting,” Dale said, “but the biggest thing for me was to have my kids there with me to experience that.”