The Final Push is a Tough One in Grueling School Board Race

By MATTHEW MEYER | Reporter

It was a beleaguered pair of candidates and a familiar set of narratives on stage at Palisades Charter High School this week, as a bruising race to represent District Four of the nation’s second-largest school district came sighing to a close.

“I actually think that you are a good person,” incumbent board president Steve Zimmer told his runoff challenger, Nick Melvoin, in a candid moment. Later Melvoin echoed the same sentiment about his opponent.

Yet most of the evening—a debate moderated by PaliHi student leader Amir Ebtehadj and driven by questions written in by the audience—was spent picking at familiar wounds.

The event was the final scheduled on-stage duel in the most expensive school board race in the country, which has attracted over $10 million in spending by outside organizations and lured such high-profile endorsements as Barbara Boxer (Melvoin) and Bernie Sanders (Zimmer).

The election will award an extended five-and-a-half-year term as the district moves to align with major elections, and could tip the balance of LAUSD in a more charter-friendly direction if both Melvoin and District Six runoff challenger Kelly Gonez emerge victorious.

Charters dominated the District Four discussion once again at Monday night’s debate.

Zimmer, as he has throughout, emphasized his record of approving many of LAUSD’s charters and sung the praises of some, PaliHi included, while maintaining his support for rigorous board oversight and vigilance for any charters that fail to serve every student.

He also delineated between conversion charter schools like PaliHi (which transition from traditional to independent status, but often retain certain characteristics like union teachers), affiliated charters like Paul Revere Charter Middle School (which incorporate charter-like governing influence from parents, students and teachers but still operate closely under the district) and independent public charters that came into existence after a third-party negotiated with LAUSD, the county and the state to establish a new school (often operated by well-known charter networks such as Green Dot Public Schools).

Zimmer implied that his greatest scrutiny was levied on the third category, which he referred to at times as “pop-ups.”

Melvoin didn’t buy it. “It’s Monday and we’re at a charter school, so we hear how supportive [Zimmer is] of charter schools,” declared the candidate. “On Tuesday at a campaign rally,” Melvoin assured that Zimmer would declare charters are destroying the district.

Melvoin repeated his pledge to be “school model agnostic,” supporting any model that benefits students. He has the overwhelming support of charter-reform interest groups.

Throughout the debate, Melvoin promised a departure from the status quo, painting a vision of a more innovative and flexible approach to governing schools.

Zimmer refuted the characterization of a district sagging under bureaucracy, touting achievements and noting ways that his board has given control and flexibility back to schools.

Both said resolving the district’s massive, unfunded liability for employee benefits required immediate address, and both touted the benefits of “wraparound” services that turn schools into community hubs.

Both also expressed exhaustion with the grueling, often negative race that’s cost months and millions.

The duel will finally end on Tuesday May 16, when voters submit their ballots in LA’s citywide runoff elections.