MARYSVILLE — A group of community members who are concerned with equity in education approached the Marysville School Board about forming a partnership.

Members of “OUR Marysville” — with “OUR” standing for “Organization United for Reform” — attended the Board’s March 7 workshop meeting, with poster-board signs in hand, to request that the Board pass a resolution calling on Olympia to cut tax breaks for banks and redirect those monies toward public education.

“Banks like Chase and Bank of America get $110 million in Washington state tax breaks every year,” said Deidre Zeh-Rahk, who was joined at the meeting by her son, Christian Garcia, a student at Kellogg Marsh Elementary. “We could use that money here.”

Fellow OUR Marysville member Crystal Blanco has children attending Sunnyside Elementary and Marysville-Pilchuck High School, and is purchasing her first home in Marysville this month. She expressed the group’s interest in taking part in the Marysville School District’s budget teams. She echoed Zeh-Rahk in proposing that OUR Marysville work with Jodi Runyon of the MSD Superintendent’s Office to coordinate a town hall meeting near the end of the school year, in a family-friendly environment such as a park or a community center.

“Our goal is to involve parents and community members who are not traditionally involved,” Blanco said. “Our group is ready and willing to get out there and knock on our neighbors’ doors to help more folks get involved.”

Zeh-Rahk also expressed the group’s interest in working with Marysville School Board member and Legislative representative Chris Nation, who responded by pointing out that he’d visited Olympia during the weekend just prior to that Board meeting.

“Legislators want to hear from us, whether it’s in person or through letters,” Nation said. “They’ve got plenty of lobbyists there, but they keep a tally-sheet of the e-mails and phone calls they get. They really do pay attention because they know that what they do affects our children.”

“For every five letters they get, they know that represents 500 people,” Board President Cindy Erickson said.

“Talking with them is part of my routine,” Zeh-Rahk said. “They all know my name. I’ve been there at least four times.”

Blanco also requested that any changes to Marysville School Board meeting agendas be posted a week in advance, out of consideration for the schedules of families’ work schedules. OUR Marysville is affiliated with OUR Washington, an association of lower-income community members from across the state whose stated goals include improving schools and housing, utility reform and ending predatory lending practices.

OUR Marysville members plan to visit the state Legislature on April 5. For more information, log onto the OUR Washington website at www.ourwashington.net.