Interviewer: If you were to be elected, what will you be fighting for?

Shawn Vaughn: So that's a long list. But I would like to start with one, as a board, we have to be part of that movement to drive Trump out of office.

And one large part of that, the thing that gives us power to do that, our community defense guard networks in the same example as we saw in Minnesota, in California. It was community, workers, schools. Everybody did their part to protect our immigrant neighbors and sisters, brothers and sisters. Overall, the fight against fascism.

We need to do all the things that every Detroiter knows is necessary to improve the quality of public education.

First going to Lansing demanding that they turn over the funding that they've stolen from us over the course of two state takeovers. Getting that money turned back over to our district.

Removing Nikolai Vitti. Putting in a superintendent that actually represents the interests of Detroiters. But also if that superintendent doesn't do what we need them to do, kicking them to the curb and getting another one.

All of this, like, maybe if we cozy up to the state takeover, they'll treat us better. Or maybe if we beat ourselves, they won't beat us so hard. That cannot be the behavior, especially under fascism. We need a board that's willing to be the leaders necessary to protect our interests by any means necessary.

When I was at Osborn High School, Skillman took over our school, and with that came a whole set of things that degraded the quality of education there. And so one, they took away our AP classes. They mainstreamed all the special needs students. And so our classes were so overcrowded it was impossible to learn.

And with like 40 kids in a class with not enough paraprofessionals, I was one of the students who volunteered to, like, write for some of the special needs students and try to explain and bridge between the teacher and the special needs students, because not only did they deserve to have an education, but there's such a range of needs.

Some of them they had cerebral palsy, but they were able to keep up in pre-calculus.

Interviewer: Wow.

Shawn Vaughn: They just needed somebody to write for them. Other ones, if you explained it to them enough times, they would get it.

And so, the first thing would be expanding the the resources available for special needs students.

In addition, having more programs like the Wayne State Math Corps. When I was a student at Thurgood Marshall, being put in the accelerated class, I will say saved my life.

But when I was in that accelerated class in the sixth grade, I also had access to the Wayne State Math Corps and it made the idea of me being in college much more accessible. I started actually thinking about what did I want to do.

I’ve kind of always been more of an egalitarian, internationalist, integrationist, and so that kind of allowed my imagination for like my ability being a leader to expand.

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

Shawn Vaughn: Definitely the AP classes. And also that my classes were not overcrowded. I wish we had more paras. I wish we had therapists available because so many students were struggling, and half the time when I was tutoring, if they had access to mental health care, like, you know, like a social worker, a therapist, that that would have given so much to them.

But also like more art programs in school, higher quality art programs. Our libraries should be like hubs for the community. And a lot of them have been, but we've kind of seen the degrading of that quality, along with the degrading of the quality of our schools.

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.