Interviewer: What do you believe is one of the biggest problems facing Detroit students today?

Nicole Conaway: The biggest problem facing students in Detroit Public Schools is inequality. And that's the result of systemic racism and hyper segregation of our schools.

Separate can never be equal.

So as long as we have a system that has different rules for Detroit, then we're not going to have equality for our students.

We have had various forms of state takeovers that have drained resources from our community, with the aim of shrinking the district and privatizing the district, and that is still happening, even though we got rid of emergency management with the policies we're seeing now.

So we need a change of leadership. We need a leadership that is going to fight for the equal quality education for our students, for the funding that was taken from us and the funding that we need to provide the children of Detroit with the kind of quality education that public education that they deserve.

Interviewer: Can I ask one further question, what does equality look like for the students today?

Nicole Conaway: It would look like smaller class sizes, first of all. Full special education services and bilingual services. More magnet schools with programs to develop children's talents and interests. And that could expand not like beyond the city with the suburbs, because we are seeing, you know, not just Detroit struggling, but there's a lot of small districts around that are struggling and combining resources.

We could provide a world class education for all of our students with the best technology, performing arts programs, trades available for every student in every neighborhood.

Interviewer: “As a student, I wish my school had...”

Nicole Conaway: I needed when I was in school and I wish my school had had more of it was more wraparound services, like a full counseling department with college transition and, you know, career counseling.

I was a I was an honor student. I went to public schools, but I didn't realize what kind of opportunities were out there until I took the ACT test and I started getting things in the mail from schools all over the country, places I had never heard of. Like there was a whole world out there that I didn't know about.

And I did get accepted into the University of Michigan, but was not able to go because my family couldn't afford it. You know, working class. My mom was a single mom, nurse, and just said, well, we can't afford that. And I didn't even know financial aid existed. Had never heard of the FAFSA If I had had a counselor in my school that had told me about that, you know, my life would have been different.

I ended up going to Wayne State and loved that. You know, it brought me into Detroit, but it just makes me think of how much potential there is in our young people that doesn't get to be fully realized, because the opportunities are not accessible. So we need to invest in provide the resources to have the support staff that will make those opportunities available for our students.

In 20, over 20 years of teaching in Detroit, you know, I have seen the talent, the amazing talent of our young people and have been very frustrated with them, you know, for them and with them of the about the lack of opportunities and the inequality that they face.

That's why now I'm bringing my, you know, what I've learned in those decades of teaching to the school board to make the fight we need to get those resources, because the lesson I learned as a teacher was it wasn't enough for me to just be a good teacher in my own classroom.

You know, I came to teaching thinking, this is going to be my way to make a difference in the world. And it is, and I'm very proud of that. But I learned really quickly that it was going to take a lot more than just me being a dedicated teacher in the classroom, which is why I joined BAMN, why I'm running on the BAMN slate.

Because it's not just about one candidate or one school board member. We need a movement to fight for what our students need and what our city needs.

Candidates appear in ballot order, alphabetical by last name.

Vote for not more than 4

• Natalie Bien-Aime*

• Steve Bland Jr.

• Michelle Broughton

• Katrina Brown

• Cidney Calloway

• Bobby Christian*

• Nicole Conaway

• Vilma Escamilla Duran

• Daniel Ferguson III*

• Duane Larry Grigsby Jr.

• Bessie L. Harris

• David Harris

• C. Allan Hubbard

• Henrietta Ivey*

• Tabrian C. Joe

• Shinese Johnson

• Theodore Jones

• Georgia Mae Lemmons

• LaMar D. Lemmons

• Clement O. Lett*

• Phil Lloyd II

• Darious Morris*

• Liana Mulholland

• Tyshea Pope

• DaNetta L. Simpson

• Tawanna Simpson

• Jameel Montgomery Smith

• Calesther Smith-Arnold*

• Terry E. Whitfield

• Elizabeth A. Williams

• Theresa Williams*

* Did not participate in the CitizenDetroit candidate video series.

Ijazz Jackson*

Aliya Moore

Shawn Vaughn

* Did not participate in the CitizenDetroit candidate video series.