Barnard and other teachers at the rally said they are willing to make wage and benefit concessions to help fix the state budget, but Walker's plan to effectively dismantle the 50-year-old collective bargaining process for public employee unions goes too far.

She said it was harder to make the decision to call in sick Wednesday than it was in 1995, when nearly 2,000 teachers didn't go to work to protest contract negotiations.

"We risk our public image," Barnard said. Unlike 1995, however, the response from parents has been far more positive, she added.

Officials disputed the number of people at a noon rally, but it appeared the presence of Madison teachers — many with their own children — and students swelled the numbers beyond Tuesday's gathering, when 10,000 rallied outside of the Capitol and 3,000 more showed up inside to attend a budget hearing.

The state Department of Administration estimated 10,000 people attended the Wednesday rally. Madison police estimated the crowd at 20,000, spokesman Joel DeSpain said. The entire inner loop of the Square was closed to vehicle traffic, which wasn't the case Tuesday.