BREMERTON — Thousands of shipyard workers poured from Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Facility June 11, many with backpacks strapped over their shoulders as they exited the gates.

As they streamed onto Pacific Avenue, they passed half a dozen people in red shirts shouting about education and support for teachers. Many of the workers walked by with the same irreverence as a senior on his or her last day of school, while others politely took a flyer or stopped to listen.

The people in red represented the Bremerton Education Association. They asked shipyard workers to call legislators and demand they fully fund education.

“I can tell from personal experience, we don’t have enough textbooks to check out to students so if we want them to do an assignment from the book it has to be in class, we couldn’t even try and give them homework because we don’t have books for them to take home,” said Greg Raymond, incoming head of the Bremerton Education Association and history teacher at Bremerton High School.

In January 2012, the Washington State Supreme Court ruled that the state was violating the constitutional rights of children by failing to fully fund K-12 education.The McCleary Decision, as it’s known, ruled that the state must progressively increase spending on students until leveling out at $12,701 per student in 2017-2018.

Currently, the state is spending about $7,600 per student – $1,000 less than its obligation, according to the Network for Excellence in Washington Schools.

“I know still a lot of teachers are paying out of their pocket for kids to have paper, for kids to have pencils,” Raymond said.

Teachers statewide have held walkouts in recent months to raise awareness for a lack of education funding.

Bremerton teachers chose to walk out after school so as not to impact the students, according to Superintendent Aaron Leavell.