Several hundred members of the Alabama Education Association filled the Capitol steps to push for better working conditions and the repeal of new state tax credits for private school students.
The rally Tuesday was one of the biggest by any group during this year's legislative session.
Incoming AEA president Anita Gibson says the school employees took off from their jobs to try to preserve their profession. She says one of their goals is to urge the Legislature to reconsider a recently enacted law, which provides state tax credits for parents who choose to send their children to private schools rather than public schools rated as failing. She says the law will ravage some communities.
Gibson says a similar rally a year ago helped defeat a bill legalizing charter schools.