In pictures: Teachers in Colorado and Arizona strike over low salaries

Thousands of teachers and supporters gather in the western and southwestern US states to protest inadequate public school funding for a second day.

By Asena Boşnak
Arizona teachers are among the lowers paid in the nation. Schools that educate the vast majority of the state's 1.1 million public school students closed Thursday and Friday as teachers walked off the job. / AP

Thousands of teachers in Colorado and Arizona rallied for a second day on Friday to demand higher pay and school funding as a revolt by US public school teachers spread westward.

Waving placards such as "Teachers Just Want To Have Fund$," educators and their supporters descended on the state capital in Denver to demand an increase in school budgets.

In Arizona, thousands rallied in Phoenix for an immediate 20-percent increase to teacher salaries, which are among the lowest in the country, and restoring education funding to 2008 levels.

Arizona state Governor Doug Ducey announced a deal with state legislative leaders to raise teachers' pay 20 percent by 2020.