(11-02) 13:40 PDT OAKLAND -- At least 15 percent of Oakland teachers took today off to participate in the Occupy Oakland general strike, the school district said.

A little more than 300 teachers missed work to join the strike, said Troy Flint, a district spokesman. The district won't know exactly how many didn't come to work until later today, Flint said

There weren't enough substitute teachers in a handful of schools, so some students had to be moved into other classrooms, he said.

"These are the people who followed our procedures," Flint said, referring to the teachers who stayed away. Teachers were allowed to take the day off if they submitted a request by Monday and the district was able to find a sub, Flint said.

There's no sign that a large number of students took the day off to join the protest, Flint said.

Gretchen Bailey, a kindergarten teacher at Global Family School in Oakland for 15 years, said she took the day off without pay to protest both local budget cuts and the national goals of the Occupy Wall Street movement.

"I think we need new tax laws," she said. "We all need to share more of the burden."

Eric Robertson, a first-grade teacher who gave the district notice he was planning to join the protest, said he was frustrated with governmental divestment in local government and schools.

"I'd like to see responsible capitalism," he said. "I think it is a good model but you have to have restrictions on it."

It is time people started paying government for what they expect of government, he said.

"I am tired of smelling piss on the street," he said. "We want responsibility."

Both teachers said they didn't mind taking the day off since they knew their students were in good hands with substitute teachers.

Adam Bergman took his two children and one of their friends out of the school to come to the protest. Concerned about violence, Bergman said he wanted to stay at the back of the pack.

"I think it is important to show them what's happening right now," he said. "It's part of our civic duty to support freedom of speech ... to stand up for the 99 percent of us."

Pat Kaplan, who teaches fourth grade at Bridges Academy in East Oakland, was waiting at the Fruitvale Station to board a BART train and wearing a military uniform emblazoned with the title "Gen. Huelga" - "general strike" in Spanish.

"We've had tremendous cuts at our school and lost four staff people," Kaplan said. "We have no field trips and we have to ask parents for paper and pencils, but banks made billions of dollars this year."

Chronicle staff writer Carolyn Said contributed to this report.