By MATTHEW MEYER | Reporter
The passions of a crowd of 100-plus often spilled over last week at a Sunday evening debate between the two candidates left standing in LAUSD’s most heated school board race.
Incumbent board president Steve Zimmer and challenger Nick Melvoin are locked in a competitive runoff election to represent District 4—a portion of LAUSD that reaches from the Westside to the San Fernando Valley.
Photo by Matthew Meyer
They debated at University High School in front of a feisty crowd, who doled out boisterous cheers and jeers with such frequency that at times it seemed to threaten the event’s structure.
For their part, the candidates remained composed, using the two-person forum as an opportunity to draw clear lines between their approach and their opponent’s.
Melvoin promised a significant break from the status quo—a departure from the board under Zimmer’s tenure, characterized by greater bureaucratic autonomy for schools and a renewed sense of “urgency” for tackling the district’s financial crisis.
Zimmer touted his experience—his status as both an LAUSD veteran teacher and board member, along with the increased graduation rate and successful program rollouts that he’s overseen.
The balance between innovation and proven convention colored many of the candidates’ disagreements.
On charter schools (public schools that enjoy increased autonomy from the district), Zimmer spoke glowingly of existing LA charters but suggested that LAUSD could be reaching its “saturation point.”
Melvoin responded that such a point would only be evident when parents stopped “voting with their feet” by sending students to charters.
Melvoin pushed for changes to the district’s bureaucratic structure across the board, suggesting that giving schools and communities more control over personnel and facilities decisions would expedite problem-solving and save money.
Zimmer pointed out past efforts of his own to return power to schools, but also cautioned against downgrading the district’s role as a gatekeeper, assuring that all school decisions are made in the interest of both safety and education quality.
“Creativity isn’t just about de-regulation,” he concluded.
Voters can view the debate in it entirety on the Westside Regional Alliance of Councils’ Facebook page. The Council was responsible for organizing the event.
Ultimately, Melvoin and Zimmer are both self-proclaimed progressives with plenty of common ground in their platforms.
But the divisive atmosphere at Sunday’s debate punctuated the sense of urgency that parents feel in a school district that still fails to meet the needs of all its students.
As Melvoin said near the end of the forum, “This campaign is about means, not ends.”
Voters will choose those means when they submit their ballots on May 16.
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