A Politician Bought And Paid For

“Once I got into politics, I saw the real fight, where big money controls everything, and where politicians care more about campaign contributions than the people they're supposed to represent.”

– Richard Ojeda

The last time Nick Melvoin faced the voters was to defend his LAUSD School Board seat in 2022. Despite the teachers’ union, UTLA, failing to put up a candidate, his two far-right opponents spending no money on their campaigns and his holding the advantage as the incumbent, the Charter School Industry had to spend $2,182,977.77 to get him reelected. This massive spending only secured him the votes of 59.28% of the electorate for a cost per vote of approximately $34.22.

Like a trust fund baby being born on third base and thinking he hit a triple, Melvoin looked at the election results and had the brilliant idea that he should get a promotion. Just weeks after being sworn in to represent the constituents of LAUSD’s Board District 4, Melvoin announced that he was running for the Congressional seat currently held by Senatorial candidate Adam Schiff. The field in this race eventually grew to 15 candidates.

If races were determined solely by the amount of money raised by the candidates, Melvoin would have done well in the contest for CA-30. Bested only by Anthony Portantino, he secured $1,428,681 from donors. However, his lack of commitment toward winning might be indicated by Open Secrets saying he left $429,880 unspent. He did not leave it all on the field.

When outside spending is added, more was spent on the Melvoin campaign than his competitors. Unfortunately for the children of the LAUSD, this money did not translate into votes as he came in eighth place with only 2.68% of the electorate voting for his promotion. Even “Boy Meets World” actor Ben Savage received 1,998 more votes than he did. Laura Freidman and Republican Alex Balekian will face each other in the runoff in November.

As the early voting began Melvoin provided an example of why the Charter School Industry is willing to dump millions into his campaign. For months the Los Angeles School Board discussed a proposal to regulate how these publicly funded private schools take space on LAUSD campuses. At one meeting Melvoin admitted that he had “seen occupational therapy happening in closets.” He also said he encountered situations where space used for “sensory rooms…are in jeopardy of being taken” by a charter school using PROP-39.

While the thought of children with Special Education needs having their classrooms removed and then being relegated to closets would have been appalling to most people, even someone with a heart two sizes too small, Melvoin did not let this deter him from his unwavering support of Charter Schools. He, Kelly Gonez, and Tanya Ortiz Franklin voted against implementing reforms. This vote not only provided an example of Board Members placing the needs of campaign donors above those of the District’s most vulnerable children, but it also showed why voting for public education advocates is so important.

This is not the only time Melvoin has done the bidding of the charter schools that fund his campaigns. In 2019, he pushed back against my demand that José Cole-Gutiérrez and the Charter School Division be held responsible for waiting until Community Preparatory Academy (CPA) applied for a charter renewal before holding it responsible for financial irregularities and health and safety violations. The following year the charter school’s Executive Director, Janis Bucknor, pleaded guilty to embezzling $3.1 million in school funds while Cole-Gutiérrez looked the other way.

In 2020, Melvoin expressed “concerns” about the performance of Prepa Tec, a charter school that was $485,718 in debt with no cash reserves and where only 3.26% of the school’s students were meeting state standards in math. This did not stop him from joining Monica Garcia in voting to renew the school’s charter.

Documents obtained by Michael Kohlhaas dot org revealed that Melvoin was meeting privately with the California Charter School Association (CCSA) so that the trade group could present a resolution they wrote to make it easier for charter schools to obtain LAUSD facilities. During these meetings, he also provided the association with confidential information from closed-door LAUSD Board meetings. This information related to how the Office of General Council was defending the District against a lawsuit filed by the CCSA over the implementation of PROP-39.

The 80% of Los Angeles students attending LAUSD public schools deserve to have Board Members who are looking out for their interests. Instead, with Melvoin, they have a politician who does not hide that he would rather represent the charter schools that pay for his campaigns. While his humiliating loss in the Congressional race means that another crooked politician will not be going to Washington, this means the LAUSD is still stuck with him.

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Carl Petersen is a parent advocate for public education, particularly for students with special education needs, who serves as the Education Chair for the Northridge East Neighborhood Council. As a Green Party candidate in LAUSD’s District 2 School Board race, he was endorsed by Network for Public Education (NPE) Action. Dr. Diane Ravitch has called him “a valiant fighter for public schools in Los Angeles.” For links to his blogs, please visit www.ChangeTheLAUSD.com. Opinions are his own.