TALLAHASSEE -- The plan was simple: Pile more than 2.6 million pennies on the steps of the Capitol for a rally by parents, teachers and other educators.

Only that many pennies -- one to represent every student in the state of Florida -- weighs some 15,000 pounds.

And under those Capitol steps? A parking garage used by state lawmakers, Cabinet members and their staff.

''We didn't want to chance it,'' said Cathy Schroeder, spokeswoman for the Department of Management Services, which handles requests for rallies and demonstrations at the Capitol, but said no to the penny plan.

Still, the pennies are coming. In trucks and buses, in plastic bags and jars, some in rolls, others loose with traces of lint and household goo.

Hundreds of thousands have arrived already. In an undisclosed location near the Capitol. More than 300,000 were delivered Monday by Chuck McNaughton, who sells hay in Brevard County.

'Chuck volunteered to haul the pennies for us and then it grew to where, `Yes, I'll pick up Orange [County],' and 'Yes, I'll pick up Polk,' and 'Yes, I'll pick up Hillsborough,' '' said Chris Higgins, secretary for the Brevard County Federation of Teachers, and Chuck's sister.

''We're putting a lot of pennies back into circulation that have been in bottles and cans and things in garages for a long time,'' said Higgins, who hit the road in Chuck's two-ton Isuzu flatbed truck at 7 a.m. Monday, with the possibility that after reaching Tallahassee, they'd ``go out in a different direction in the state and pick up more pennies.''

The Florida Education Association organized the penny drive as a way to show support for a proposal by state Rep. Dwight Bullard, D-Miami, that calls for a three-year, 1-cent raise in the state sales tax to fund education.

Brinks was hired to count and transport the $26,000 in coins before their eventual donation to the Children's Home Society of Florida. Until then, only a handful of people know where they are.

Amy Hollyfield can be reached at hollyfield@sptimes.com

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