As promised, here are some images captured by DCist photographer Francis Chung during Thursday afternoon’s Washington Teachers Union-organized protest outside the John A. Wilson Building.

The protesters’ beef is with D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee’s mostrecent round of layoffs, which saw almost 400 school employees abruptly lose their jobs just a month into the school year. Rhee and Mayor Adrian Fenty say the firings were necessary due to an unexpected budget gap. Angry teachers and their supporters say the budget excuse is just a pretext for carrying out plans to rid the school system of older teachers. Earlier this week, Rhee sent out a letter trying to explain how and why all this happened, but the protesters still came, hoping to convince more of the public of what they believe: that Rhee and Fenty are lying, and that these laid off teachers were treated unnecessarily badly.

The turnout’s been estimated at over 1,000, with the large crowd certainly loud and spirited, but for the most part orderly and respectful. The one exception DCist saw was a woman who vociferously heckled AFT President Randi Weingarten during her speech. She was apparently disgruntled about the quality of her children’s education, and was soon escorted away by event staff.

The WTU this week filed a lawsuit against the city over the recent layoffs.