Walking through the halls of Wilson, one can easily overhear the conversations discussing Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Donald Trump and the current status of the Presidential elections. But another election, one with more impact on Wilson students and District residents, is the current race for the At-Large seats on the District of Columbia City Council. Drew Franklin, a former Wilson student, is running as an Independent to represent the whole city on one of two At-Large seats. He is currently running against incumbent, Councilmember David Grosso in the election set for November 8, 2016.
Drew Franklin has been called the “Bernie Sanders of DC” and is known for his community activism, engaging in the Occupy movement. From those experiences he has realized that in order to change the political establishment here in the Nation’s capitol he must run for this highly coveted position. His campaign centers around the Drew for D.C. Bill of Rights which encompasses five key resolutions:
- All residents have the right to secure and affordable housing.
- All students have the right to free and equitable public education.
- All commuters have the right to safe and reliable public transit.
- All workers have the right to fair working conditions and a living wage.
- All patients have the right to freely accessible healthcare.
As a former Wilson student, he believes he is best positioned to represent the Wilson community. On Monday, April 4, he engaged in discussions with students in Bollinger’s class where students, in groups, were assigned key issues facing the District ranging from Metro to the minimum wage. He listened to their thoughts and concerns and then responded with his position. From these discussion he said he “learned a lot from Wilson students and looks forward to bringing them into the current conversation regarding their education.”
If elected he plans to put forth legislation that protects DCPS students and parents from current penalties for opting out of standardized tests. He also hopes to make DCPS more democratic by moving some power away from the mayorally-selected Chancellor to the democratically-elected DC State Board of Education, as well as adding two student positions to that body.
PHOTO COURTESY OF CREATIVE COMMONS
