Nick Melvoin
Nick Melvoin | |
|---|---|
 Melvoin in 2018 | |
| Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education, District 4 | |
| Assumed office July 6, 2017 | |
| Preceded by | Steve Zimmer |
| Vice President of the LAUSD Board of Education | |
| Assumed office July 6, 2017 | |
| President | Kelly Gonez |
| Preceded by | Steve Zimmer |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1985 (age 38–39) Brentwood, Los Angeles |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Alma mater | Harvard University Loyola Marymount University (MD) New York University School of Law (JD) |
| Website | www www |
Nick Melvoin (born 1985) is an attorney, former teacher, adjunct professor, and a current member of the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education representing District 4 since May 16, 2017. He is the second youngest member of the Board after Kelly Gonez.
Early life and education
Melvoin was born in Brentwood, Los Angeles, graduating from Harvard-Westlake School in 2004 and from Harvard University in 2008, earning a Master's degree from Loyola Marymount University and a Juris Doctor from the New York University School of Law.[1]
Career
Early career
Melvoin started teaching at Edwin Markham Middle School through the Teach For America program and had served as a legal clerk for the American Civil Liberties Union.[2] He was also the director of policy, communications and associate counsel for Great Public Schools Now and a consultant to Educators 4 Excellence and Teach Plus. After his first year at Markham Middle School, he was laid off along with 70% of teachers due to budget cuts.[3] Melvoin worked on the ACLU’s Reed v. California lawsuit, which challenged LAUSD’s seniority-based teacher layoff policies, as well as testifying in the Vergara v. California lawsuit.[4]
LAUSD Board of Education
District 4 election (2016–2017)
In 2016, Melvoin announced that he would be a candidate for the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education for District 4, held by member and Vice President of the Board Steve Zimmer.[5][6] Melvoin said he ran because he realized that there "was a lot outside my classroom that was affecting what was happening inside."[3] The race was joined by candidates Allison Holdorff Polhill and Greg Martayan. On February 23, 2017, all four candidates debated on the role of charter schools, undocumented students, and the budget for the District at a UCLA forum.[7]
Melvoin and Zimmer competed in a runoff after the general election where Polhill and Martayan were eliminated.[8] Melvoin was endorsed by the Daily Breeze,[9] the Los Angeles Daily News,[10] the Los Angeles Times,[11] and HuffPost.[12] Melvoin's campaign was criticized for receiving significant third-party spending support to defeat Zimmer, including the Walton family who spent more than $5 million for his campaign.[13][14] The election itself was also criticized for being what was believed to be the most expensive school board election in U.S. history.[15]
On May 17, 2017, Zimmer conceded to Melvoin in the race during a speech to his supporters, calling it devastating while saying that he would never run for office again.[16] Melvoin won with a total of 30,696 votes, with Zimmer having 22,766 votes.[17] With his win, Melvoin replaced Zimmer as a Board member for District 4 as well as the Board's vice president.[18] Melvoin was sworn in on July 6, 2017.[19] After the election, the charter-backed candidates, including Melvoin, had a majority on the Board of Education.[20][21]
Tenure (2017–present)
During the 2019 Los Angeles Unified School District teachers' strike, Melvoin said that the District couldn't afford the teacher's demands.[22] In the 2019 elections, held due to Ref Rodriguez's resignation, made the members backed by the California Charter Schools Association a minority after Jackie Goldberg was elected.[23] In 2019, Melvoin announced that he would seek re-election.[24] He is endorsed by Teamsters Local 572.[25]
Elections
| Primary election | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
| Nonpartisan | Steve Zimmer (incumbent) | 45,088 | 46.70 | |
| Nonpartisan | Nick Melvoin | 31,771 | 32.90 | |
| Nonpartisan | Allison Holdorff Polhill | 13,510 | 13.99 | |
| Nonpartisan | Gregory Martayan | 6,189 | 6.41 | |
| Total votes | 96,558 | 100.00 | ||
| General election | ||||
| Nonpartisan | Nick Melvoin | 38,673 | 57.23 | |
| Nonpartisan | Steve Zimmer (incumbent) | 28,897 | 42.77 | |
| Total votes | 67,570 | 100.00 | ||
| Primary election | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
| Nonpartisan | Nick Melvoin (incumbent) | 82,696 | 59.81 | |
| Nonpartisan | Tracey Schroeder | 36,377 | 26.31 | |
| Nonpartisan | Gentille Barkhordarian | 19,200 | 13.89 | |
| Total votes | 138,273 | 100.00 | ||
References
- ^ Bayer, Halli (March 30, 2016). "Coffee Break: L.A. School Board Candidate on Downward Dogs, Underdogs and Finding His 'Happy Place'". Education Post.
- ^ Blume, Howard (March 5, 2017). "Could the L.A. school board's balance of power tip pro-charter?". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ a b "KPCC's LA school board candidate survey: Nick Melvoin, District 4". KPCC. February 17, 2017.
- ^ "Nicholas Melvoin '14 joins the legal battle against education inequality". NYU School of Law. April 21, 2014.
- ^ Clough, Craig (February 23, 2016). "Nick Melvoin declares candidacy for LA Unified school board District 4 seat in '17". LA School Report.
- ^ Handler, Sammi (March 9, 2016). "Alum declares candidacy for LAUSD board". The Harvard-Westlake Chronicle.
- ^ Pauker, Madeleine (February 23, 2017). "LAUSD Board of Education candidates dispute platforms at UCLA forum". Daily Bruin.
- ^ Schwartz, Noa (March 8, 2017). "Nick Melvoin '04 to compete in LAUSD runoff". The Harvard-Westlake Chronicle.
- ^ "Endorsement: Nick Melvoin for L.A. school board". Daily Breeze. May 3, 2017.
- ^ "Endorsement: Nick Melvoin for L.A. school board". Los Angeles Daily News. May 3, 2017.
- ^ "Endorsement: Voters should support independent thinkers Nick Melvoin and Kelly Gonez for the L.A. Unified school board". Los Angeles Times. May 9, 2017.
- ^ Johnson, Alex M. (May 4, 2017). "Endorsement: Nick Melvoin for LAUSD Board of Education". HuffPost.
- ^ Brantley, Max (May 14, 2017). "Waltons spending millions in Los Angeles School Board race". Arkansas Times.
- ^ Roos, Sara (May 11, 2017). "Nick Melvoin's School Board Candidacy Controlled By Wealthy, "Special" Interests". LA Progressive.
- ^ Blume, Howard (May 21, 2017). "How L.A.'s school board election became the most expensive in U.S. history". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ "Steve Zimmer Concedes to Nick Melvoin in Highly Contested Election for LAUSD Board President". KTLA. May 17, 2017.
- ^ Weinraub, Anthony (August 30, 2017). "Alumni make strides in government roles". The Harvard-Westlake Chronicle.
- ^ Rodriguez, Bryce (May 18, 2017). "Nick Melvoin the New LAUSD Board President". The Oarsman.
- ^ "Nick Melvoin sworn in to LAUSD school board". Beverly Press. 6 July 2017.
- ^ Zinshteyn, Mikhail (May 17, 2017). "Charter-backed candidates win majority on L.A. Unified school board". EdSource.
- ^ Blume, Howard (May 17, 2017). "Charter backers win their first L.A. school board majority". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ "LAUSD board VP Nick Melvoin: District can't afford to meet teachers' demands". KABC-TV. January 15, 2019.
- ^ Petersen, Carl J. (September 21, 2019). "Now In the Minority, A School Board Member Changes His Tune". Knock LA.
- ^ Petersen, Carl J. (July 18, 2021). "LAUSD's Nick Melvoin To Seek Reelection". Patch.
- ^ "Teamsters endorse Melvoin for school board". Beverly Press. August 26, 2021.
- ^ "CITY OF LOS ANGELES GENERAL MUNICIPAL ELECTION OFFICIAL ELECTION RESULTS MAY 16, 2017". Los Angeles City Clerk. May 26, 2017.