A crowd of students, unionized workers and others protested state budget cuts today and made an unusual request – raise taxes.

The rally ran out of room on the Legislative Building steps and filled the area in front, outnumbering the opposing rally that preceded it today.

People waved “Yes on revenue” signs, and speakers used the r-word instead of the t-word when describing their solution to the state’s problems. “There’s less revenue at a time when people need more help,” Leno Rose-Avila, director of Social Justice Fund Northwest, told the crowd.

The large student presence ranged from a group of social work graduate students from the University of Washington all the way down to fourth-grader Ashley Riley, who told the crowd that her school, Sheridan Elementary in Tacoma, can’t afford new library books, playground equipment or a full-time nurse.

“Our government needs to stop taking money away from schools, because that’s hurting kids,” Ashley said. She concluded, as many of the grown-up speakers did: “We need to raise revenue to protect our future.”

That produced a chant of “Kids not cuts,” from the crowd, a message echoed on many participants’ signs.

The crowd numbered 6,000,  according to the Washington State Patrol.

“This is incredible. There’s so many more of us than the other side,” said Sen. Ed Murray, D-Seattle. “I think they’re running out of teabags.”