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Nick Melvoin
Nick Melvoin is a member of the Los Angeles Unified School District in California, representing District 4. He assumed office in 2017. His current term ends on December 11, 2026.
Melvoin (Democratic Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent California's 30th Congressional District. He lost in the primary on March 5, 2024.
Biography
Melvoin was born and raised on the westside of Los Angeles. His work experiences includes serving as an adjunct professor at Loyola Marymount University, in domestic policy council for the Obama administration, as a legal clerk in the U.S. Attorney General's Office, and as a teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District. He earned a bachelor's degree from Harvard University, a master's degree in urban education from Loyola Marymount University, and a juris doctor from the New York University School of Law.[1]
Elections
2024
See also: California's 30th Congressional District election, 2024
California's 30th Congressional District election, 2024 (March 5 top-two primary)
General election
General election for U.S. House California District 30
Laura Friedman defeated Alex Balekian in the general election for U.S. House California District 30 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Laura Friedman (D)  | 68.4 | 213,100 |
 | Alex Balekian (R) | 31.6 | 98,559 | |
| Total votes: 311,659 | |||
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Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for U.S. House California District 30
The following candidates ran in the primary for U.S. House California District 30 on March 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Laura Friedman (D) | 30.1 | 46,329 |
| ✔ | | Alex Balekian (R) | 17.4 | 26,826 |
 | Anthony Portantino, Jr. (D) | 13.3 | 20,459 | |
 | Mike Feuer (D) | 12.3 | 18,878 | |
 | Maebe A. Girl (D) | 10.3 | 15,791 | |
| J. Emilio Martinez (R) | 4.4 | 6,775 | ||
 | Ben Savage (D) | 4.0 | 6,147 | |
 | Nick Melvoin (D) | 2.7 | 4,134 | |
 | Jirair Ratevosian (D) | 1.9 | 2,889 | |
 | Sepi Shyne (D) | 1.4 | 2,126 | |
 | Courtney Najera (D) | 0.8 | 1,167 | |
 | Joshua Bocanegra (No party preference) | 0.5 | 780 | |
 | Steve Dunwoody (D) | 0.5 | 727 | |
 | Francesco Arreaga (D) | 0.3 | 532 | |
 | Sal Genovese (D) | 0.3 | 442 | |
| Total votes: 154,002 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Patrick Gipson (R)
- Eric Sawchuk (R)
- Sarah Idan (D)
- Mike Castellanos (D)
- Drew Britton (D)
- Michael Huckabee (R)
Endorsements
Melvoin received the following endorsements.
- U.S. Rep. Colin Allred (D)
- U.S. Rep. Scott Peters (D)
- U.S. Rep. Ritchie Torres (D)
- Member, Culver City School Board Triston Ezidore
- Frmr. U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman (D)
- Los Angeles Daily News
2022
See also: Los Angeles Unified School District, California, elections (2022)
Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education District 4
Incumbent Nick Melvoin won election outright against Tracey Schroeder and Gentille Barkhordarian in the primary for Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education District 4 on June 7, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Nick Melvoin (Nonpartisan) | 59.8 | 82,696 |
 | Tracey Schroeder (Nonpartisan) | 26.3 | 36,377 | |
| Gentille Barkhordarian (Nonpartisan) | 13.9 | 19,200 | ||
| Total votes: 138,273 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2017
Three seats on the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education were up for primary election on March 7, 2017. A general election was held on May 16, 2017, for the District 4 and 6 seats. In her bid for re-election to the District 2 seat, incumbent Mónica García defeated challengers Lisa Alva and Carl Petersen and won another term outright by receiving a majority of votes in the primary. In District 4, board President Steve Zimmer advanced to the general election with challenger Nick Melvoin after they defeated Gregory Martayan and Allison Holdorff Polhill. Melvoin defeated Zimmer in the general election. Six candidates—Kelly Fitzpatrick-Gonez, Patty Lopez, Imelda Padilla, Araz Parseghian, Gwendolyn Posey, and Jose Sandoval—filed to run for the open District 6 seat in the primary. Fitzpatrick-Gonez and Padilla advanced to the general election, where Fitzpatrick-Gonez won the seat. District 6 incumbent Monica Ratliff opted not to run for re-election to the board and instead ran for a Los Angeles City Council seat.[2][3][4][5]
Results
| Los Angeles Unified School District, District 4 General Election, 5-year term, 2017 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Nick Melvoin |
57.23% | 38,673 |
| Steve Zimmer Incumbent | 42.77% | 28,897 |
| Total Votes | 67,570 | |
| Source: Los Angeles City Clerk, "Official Election Results May 16, 2017: Certified Final Bulletin," accessed May 30, 2017 | ||
| Los Angeles Unified School District, District 4 Primary Election, 5-year term, 2017 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Steve Zimmer Incumbent |
46.70% | 45,088 |
| Nick Melvoin |
32.90% | 31,771 |
| Allison Holdorff Polhill | 13.99% | 13,510 |
| Gregory Martayan | 6.41% | 6,189 |
| Total Votes | 96,558 | |
| Source: Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "Los Angeles County Election Results: Consolidated Municipal and Special Elections March 7, 2017," accessed March 30, 2017 | ||
Funding
Melvoin reported $822,514.16 in contributions and $822,435.23 in expenditures to the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission, which left his campaign with $78.93 on hand in the election.[6]
Endorsements
Melvoin was endorsed by the following organizations and elected officials:[7][8][9][10][11][12]
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After she lost the primary election, Allison Holdorff Polhill endorsed Melvoin.[13] Melvoin was also endorsed by a number of community members. Click here to see a list of his supporters.
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Nick Melvoin did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.
2022
Nick Melvoin did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
2017
Candidate website
Melvoin highlighted the following issues on his campaign website:
| “ | Charting a new course for Los Angeles Schools
As an LAUSD teacher in Watts, I witnessed firsthand how the system fails students and teachers and neglects our city’s most vulnerable. But I remain confident that, with the right leadership, we can give every student the opportunity to succeed and reach their God-given potential. This is my plan to L.I.G.H.T. a path toward a new system of public schools in LA. Local Control and Autonomy The Los Angeles Unified School District covers 27 cities, 710 square miles, and over 660,000 students. It should come as no surprise, then, that what works in one community may not work in another. I want to give our schools more local control to make the decisions that are right for them. We need more flexibility over school structure, budgeting, staffing, and community partnerships so that every classroom reflects its community and every educator can teach students at their level. Innovation and Creative Thinking The same old teaching methods are no longer working - we need new ideas. I will promote creativity in school design, classroom learning, and district governance. I plan to use technology to support families and schools and to find new ways to partner with LA’s creative industries. And we need to share best practices across schools, from neighborhood schools to magnets to charters, so that all schools can learn from what works. Great Choices for All Families Regardless of zip code, families deserve access to great choices, including local neighborhood schools, innovative magnet programs, and charter schools. And we need to help parents navigate those choices more easily. I will work to put all school options in one place, and I will help schools unify the application process and deadlines so all parents can choose the right school for their child. I'll also work to expand access to free preschool and pre-k programs throughout the city. Human Capital Development and Support We need to overhaul the District’s policies to better support our educators. I will work to incentivize high-performing teachers to teach in the schools that need them most. I also want to give teachers the training and support they need to become the best educator they can be. To do that, LAUSD needs a systematic way to recruit, develop, place and retain highly effective teachers. Transparency and Accountability The time has come for a new era of transparency and accountability. For too long, parents, students, and taxpayers have been kept in the dark about what’s going on in District headquarters, from the true fiscal situation to graduation rates to facility needs. I want to modernize the District’s website so our parents, students, and taxpayers can access real information about their schools and the system. You deserve to know exactly what your representatives are doing, or failing to do, to improve your schools.[14] |
” |
| —Nick Melvoin (2017)[15] | ||
89.3 KPCC survey
Melvoin participated in the following survey conducted by 89.3 KPCC. The questions provided in the survey appear in bold and Melvoin's responses follow below.[16]
Why do you want to be a member of the L.A. Unified School Board?
| “ | I’ve always known I wanted to be an educator, because I know what a great education means to students, to families, and to our democracy. I began my career as an LAUSD teacher, but soon realized that there was a lot outside my classroom that was affecting what was happening inside. That’s why I’m running for a seat on the L.A. Unified School District Board.
At the end of my first year teaching at Markham Middle School in Watts, nearly 70 percent of teachers at the school—myself included—were laid-off as a result of budget cuts and a “Last In, First Out” policy. The next year, many students remained without a full-time teacher. One of them was my student, Concepcion, a straight-A seventh grader. When grades came due, Concepcion and her classmates had a substitute for history who had been in their classroom for just two days. Under pressure, the sub gave Cs to the entire class, regardless of the quality of their work. Overnight, Concepcion’s 4.0 was gone—not because she flunked a test, not because she didn’t study, but because the system failed her. No straight-A student should ever get a C because the district couldn’t afford to teach her. LAUSD has responded to crisis after crisis by lowering standards, inflating graduation rates, and increasing bureaucracy. That’s not putting kids first. Not in Watts, not in the Palisades, not anywhere. Our city is the creative capital of the world, and it's time we have a school district that befits the incredible talents of our students and families. I’m running for school board because as a teacher, attorney, organizer and advocate, I’ve seen what can happen when we put kids first. I’ve seen the innovation that’s possible in public education and think it’s past time we see it here in LA.[14] |
” |
| —Nick Melvoin (February 17, 2017)[16] | ||
Superintendent Michelle King is in her thirteenth month in the district’s top job. On an A-F scale, how would you grade her first year? Please explain your answer.
| “ | I have a lot of confidence in Superintendent King and think that after five superintendents in the last eight years it’s important to have some stability. I don’t know that we have all the information necessary to evaluate her performance but, with the information we do have, I’d give her an “incomplete.” She is clearly extremely capable and I believe she could be an excellent superintendent, but the current board has done a poor job of outlining her role.
Take the recent back and forth between her strategic plan and the board's. A year in to her tenure, we should have clarity about who’s setting the vision and who’s executing and move past these initial goal-setting conversations. Superintendent King is the fifth superintendent in the past five years because of the inability of the board to provide the tools and vision needed to succeed. I have been impressed by the resounding support that Superintendent King has from parents that I have spoken to. By all accounts she is an excellent listener and is actively seeking feedback from families throughout the district. I hope to have a strong relationship with Superintendent King and collaborate to create a clear vision for the future of LAUSD.[14] |
” |
| —Nick Melvoin (February 17, 2017)[16] | ||
Please name one idea or policy you don’t see Superintendent King, district leaders or the school board discussing often enough that — if elected — you’d work on either implementing or expanding in L.A. Unified?
| “ | We need greater school autonomy and flexibility. By that, I mean pushing as much decision-making authority as possible to the school site and letting principals and teachers do their jobs with fewer strings attached. The increase in autonomy and flexibility would extend to giving principals the ability to hire and fire their own staff. We are entrusting principals to run an entire school, and they should be able to do so with a staff of their choosing. I want there to be fewer decisions made at the district level and more made in local schools. This is one of the lessons we’re learning from charter and pilot schools; in general, decisions made closer to students and to a community are better.
The Downey Unified School District has a 96 percent graduation rate and has similar demographics to LAUSD. The success in Downey is attributable to a commitment to locally-based decision making, investing in teacher development, and increasing parent involvement. These policies have a proven record of success and with better leadership we can bring them to LAUSD.[14] |
” |
| —Nick Melvoin (February 17, 2017)[16] | ||
Do you believe expanding “school choice” policies (giving parents more ability to choose the school their child attends) is a force for eliminating or exacerbating the educational opportunity gap between privileged and less-privileged racial, linguistic or socioeconomic groups? Please explain your rationale.
| “ | With roughly 130,000 students in charter schools and nearly 40,000 on waitlists, parents in L.A. are clearly hungry for an array of public school options. I support the right of parents to choose the best public option for their child. That being said, we need to make choices more accessible to all parents so that we don’t see choice exacerbate opportunity gaps; rather, these choices should help in eliminating them, which is what many of them are indeed doing in L.A.
To do that, I’ve advocated for a universal enrollment system for all public schools in our city. I want to make school choice more accessible to all families in LAUSD by creating a common application. The current process, whether it’s charter application windows and lotteries or the convoluted magnet point system, is difficult for many parents to navigate. A common application will increase the amount of choice parents and students have as well as make the process simpler and more equitable. It is also my view that school choice coupled with more local control will allow students to find schools that better fit their needs. If a student has a passion for the arts, but their local school is not known for its art department and another school nearby has invested more in arts programs, we should not stand in the way of the student seeking out an alternative. Increasing school choice will give students a greater ability to find a school where they can succeed.[14] |
” |
| —Nick Melvoin (February 17, 2017)[16] | ||
How, if at all, would you change L.A. Unified’s approach to “authorizing” and overseeing charter schools? (Your answer may touch on any facet of the relationship — from vetting applications to open new charter schools; renewing or revoking existing charters; monitoring charter schools’ performance, governance and finance; handling Prop. 39 campus-sharing arrangements.)
| “ | The board has an obligation to be transparent about its standards for granting new and renewed charter petitions, and this is not happening. It has, understandably, created some tension between LAUSD and charter operators. As a board member, I would work to be more forthcoming about LAUSD oversight and seek greater collaboration wherever possible in order to prevent this kind of mistrust from continuing. Ideally, the charter division would work with charters during the oversight process to mitigate problems as they arise. The goal should be to fix problems, not catch a charter doing something wrong to then shut it down.
I’d also like to undergo an honest accounting of district facilities and enrollment so all parties have equal access to information. The fact that some schools are given access to campuses but others are not is both unfair and creating tension within communities. In addition to this audit, I’d like to see LAUSD be more helpful with the conditional use permitting (CUP) process and other efforts through which charters try to secure private space. We also need to work to fix the broken co-location process. One of the issues that frequently arises from co-located public and charter schools is that the rent is paid directly to the central bureaucracy so there is little to no incentive for public schools to share facilities with charters. I would support the cost of facilities going directly to the public school co-locating with the charter. We also need members of the board to stop pitting parents against parents with divisive rhetoric about charter schools versus district schools. With the facilities money going directly to the district school as well as a shift in rhetoric I believe that performance and collaboration would increase and friction would be reduced.[14] |
” |
| —Nick Melvoin (February 17, 2017)[16] | ||
L.A. Unified faces long-term financial challenges, including declining enrollment and rising costs for pensions and employee benefits. A blue-ribbon panel in Nov. 2015 also highlighted further issues that cloud the district’s financial future. If elected, what immediate steps would you take to address these financial challenges?
| “ | If elected, I would focus on three main areas to address the budget challenges:
The $13.5 billion unfunded pension liability is nothing short of a crisis. I will negotiate with the teachers union to stop the growth of the debt by implementing policies suggested by the Blue-Ribbon panel: paying teachers earlier in their careers rather than deferring benefits; offering lump sum payments rather than lifetime benefits; attempting to negotiate with UTLA to implement a 90-10 healthcare plan which would save the district $57 million per year on benefits. To shore up the budget immediately, I will look to increase expectations for employee attendance and implement policies that increase both enrollment and student attendance. By being more transparent with district finances, we’ll also eliminate waste more effectively. We also may need to go to taxpayers with a parcel tax or advocate more aggressively for more state and federal funding, but all of that will fall on deaf ears if we’re not better stewards of the resources we currently have. As a former union teacher, an attorney and parent advocate, I look at these issues from the eyes of students, teachers and parents alike. It is unconscionable that the current board has done so little to address such a serious matter.[14] |
” |
| —Nick Melvoin (February 17, 2017)[16] | ||
The L.A. Unified board has set a district-wide goal of a 100 percent high school graduation rate. How, if at all, would you change the district’s approach to meeting this goal? (Or would you change the goal itself?)
| “ | While I understand that no board wants to see graduation rates decrease under their tenure, it is the quality of the education, not the quantity of diplomas that are given out, that is most important. If 100 percent of students graduate, but that diploma doesn’t entitle them to a seat at our state universities or isn’t meaningfully translating to a job, then we’ve failed those kids.
I’d rather see LAUSD commit to a goal such as “100 percent of students will finish their time with LAUSD prepared for college or a meaningful career with the knowledge and skills necessary to succeed in the 21st century economy.” Currently, only 28 percent of students district-wide are proficient in math, yet graduation rates are at an all-time high. That has parents scratching their heads. Of course, I would like to see 100 percent of LAUSD students graduate high school with a C or above in their A-G requirements. But when it comes to a goal that is both meaningful and attainable, I’d rather focus on the quality of our instruction and education and not the watered-down accolades. All students who we educate in LA should go out into the world prepared for college, career and life.[14] |
” |
| —Nick Melvoin (February 17, 2017)[16] | ||
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
See also
2022 Elections
External links
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Candidate U.S. House California District 30 |
Officeholder Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education District 4 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Educator for School Board Nick Melvoin, "About," accessed January 18, 2017
- ↑ Los Angeles City Clerk, "2017 Primary Nominating Election Candidates: Nominating Petition Filing Status," accessed December 13, 2016
- ↑ 98.3 KPCC, "Crowded field for Los Angeles primary election in March, but no serious threat yet for Garcetti," December 8, 2016
- ↑ Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "Los Angeles County Election Results: Consolidated Municipal and Special Elections March 7, 2017," accessed March 8, 2017
- ↑ Los Angeles City Clerk, "Election Night Results (Unofficial): May 16, 2017," accessed May 17, 2017
- ↑ Los Angeles City Ethics Commission, "2017 City and LAUSD Elections," accessed August 1, 2017
- ↑ CCSA Advocates, "CCSA Advocates endorses four candidates for Los Angeles Unified school board," January 26, 2017
- ↑ Educator for School Board Nick Melvoin, "Endorsements," accessed March 16, 2017
- ↑ Speak UP, "Speak UP Endorsements: The Case Against Steve Zimmer," accessed February 2, 2017
- ↑ Los Angeles Times, "Endorsement New voices needed on Los Angeles Unified school board: Lisa Alva, Nick Melvoin and Kelly Gonez," February 8, 2017
- ↑ Los Angeles Daily News, "Endorsement: Nick Melvoin for L.A. school board in District 4," March 1, 2017
- ↑ Los Angeles Times, "Obama administration Education secretary endorses Gonez, Melvoin for L.A. school board," March 29, 2017
- ↑ LA School Report, "Exclusive: Allison Holdorff Polhill comes out swinging against Steve Zimmer’s ‘misleading’ campaign tactics, vows to throw support to Melvoin in unseating board president," March 8, 2017
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 14.5 14.6 14.7 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Educator for School Board Nick Melvoin, "Issues," accessed January 16, 2017
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 16.5 16.6 16.7 89.3 KPCC, "KPCC's LA school board candidate survey: Nick Melvoin, District 4," February 17, 2017
