Nick Melvoin

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]

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 other's spending to defeat Zimmer, including the Walton family who spend more than $5 million for his campaign.[13][14] The election itself was also criticized for being the most expensive 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]

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]