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A Candidate Who Aims to Build Faith in D.C. Schools
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"For me, I think one of the reasons why I'm backing him is because he's got living, breathing children in the system," Glazer said. "He hasn't given up on the system -- he understands that it can work, and the problems that we're facing, but also the potential and the need for a real quality public school system."
Although Ross's platform resonates with some voters, contributions to his campaign have only trickled in. According to the latest campaign finance reports, Ross had raised a total of $4,035 in contributions as of Monday, a figure that lags behind the other candidates.
As a College Savings Program manager at Bethesda-based Calvert Asset Management Co., Ross talks with D.C. community groups and does other outreach to make residents aware of the D.C. College Savings Plan, an investment program for parents wanting to save for college while earning D.C. tax deductions. Before that, he was the first director of the District's Tuition Assistance Grant Program. Created by Congress in 1999, the program provides $17 million annually in college scholarships to D.C. residents.
Ross took over the program when it was just a start-up and there wasn't even any stationery, said Reggie Sanders, who worked under Ross as his marketing director. Sanders said he didn't have a good first impression of Ross, thinking that he came off as dry and gruff.
But as Sanders worked closely with Ross to build the program, Sanders said he found that he and his boss shared a passion for helping young people afford college. Sanders grew to greatly respect Ross's direct style. He said Ross spent late nights talking with parents across the city about the new scholarship program and helping them help their children apply. Sanders said Ross pushed to make sure that colleges received the District's scholarship payments on time.
"There's some people who will take a picture with a lot of kids and put it on a brochure -- that's not Laurent." Sanders said. "He actually does the work."
Sanders added that Ross, who is fluent in Spanish, had a knack for relating to everyone, no matter their background.
"The joke around the office," Sanders recalled, "and we said it to him -- was that he was the honorary African American in the office."
Staff researcher Meg Smith contributed to this report.
