Vilma Escamilla Duran: I want to get to the point where, like, I get the kids ready to go to school and I don't, I like it's sad to hear them say like school is not for me or like I don't want to go to school because school is not for me. And so if I could change anything, it would be that like, no kid, not just my own like feel that a school is not for them, period. So Yeah. I would want to change how inclusive or not inclusive the schools feel.

Interviewer: If you were elected, what would be your top priority?

Vilma Escamilla Duran: So a couple things I definitely want to prioritize. Special education and just the whole ESE department. The IEPs are taking way too long, and that means kiddos aren't getting services. Kiddos aren't getting the support they need to go to school. And so that is definitely a top priority for me. Another one would be language access, language justice, period. I think with Detroit becoming even more diverse than it already is, I think it's really important for all families to feel included, not even just when they step into schools like even before. They should just feel included on their way to school, you know, feeling safe to go to school. And so those are the two top priorities for me.

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

Vilma Escamilla Duran: As a student, I wish my school had... given every student the same opportunity. So I'm not a DPSCD alum, I'm not. I-- LAUSD is what you know, they raised me into who I am today and I was fortunate enough to be, you know, in a certain like magnet or honors program. I had access to art, theater. Like we made wooden puppets in like fifth grade. We're like, carving the heck out of it. And that wasn't for all students, though. And so it's just, you know, if your IQ was a certain level and, you know, those opportunities were given, and I love the opportunities that were given to me, I want to see that for every kid. I want every kid to experience art. I want every kid to experience music. That's what I wish, is that everything that was given to one student would be given to all.

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.