Scott Schmerelson Keeps Forgetting His Own Record on School Safety

by Dan Chang

Scott Mark Schmerelson is banking on voters having short memories, or maybe he's just hoping his own lapses will go unnoticed. As the LAUSD Boardmember fights for reelection, he’s outright denying his 2021 vote to cut the school police force. As Scott’s opponent in the LAUSD Board District 3 race, I have referred many times to his actions that defunded school police and have led to widespread violence. Every time, he just calls me a liar.

Let’s be clear: Scott did vote to gut the Los Angeles School Police Department. In February 2021, he cast a vote to slash $25 million from the department, a move that reduced campus policing under the guise of "reimagining" public safety. The LAUSD's own press release proves it, so for Scott to now act as if he’s never touched school police funding is laughable at best and highly dishonest at worst.

What’s even more concerning is how brazenly Scott is rewriting history to suit his reelection campaign against me. He’s trying to have it both ways: claiming to support student safety while pretending he didn’t actively vote to weaken it. Voters deserve a leader who owns their decisions, not a career politician who plays fast and loose with the truth to cling to power.

This kind of blatant gaslighting is exactly what’s wrong with leadership like Scott’s, if you can even call it leadership. If he’s willing to lie about something as well-documented as his vote to cut school police, what else is he covering up? Voters should be asking themselves why Scptt is so desperate to hide the truth.

The facts don’t lie, but it seems that Scott has no problem doing so.