Los Angeles schools superintendent resigns amid federal investigation

Alberto Carvalho’s departure leaves Los Angeles Unified School District under acting leadership as the nation’s second-largest school system confronts a federal investigation, budget strain and questions about whether promised gains were worth the turmoil. The board said it received his resignation letter effective June 21 and kept Andrés Chait in place as acting superintendent while it weighs a permanent replacement.

The resignation followed months of escalating pressure. In late February, the Federal Bureau of Investigation executed search warrants at Carvalho’s home in San Pedro and at district headquarters in downtown Los Angeles, turning an internal management dispute into a full-scale accountability crisis. On Feb. 27, the Los Angeles Unified Board of Education unanimously placed Carvalho on paid administrative leave pending investigation and named Chait acting superintendent.

Reporting linked the federal probe to a failed AI chatbot contract involving the defunct company AllHere, a deal said to be worth roughly $6 million to $6.2 million. The episode added to concerns about district oversight at a time when Los Angeles Unified was already facing budget pressure, layoffs and persistent questions about operational stability. For families, the stakes went beyond one executive’s future: leadership turnover can affect budgeting, staffing, student services and the pace of reforms that schools and classrooms depend on.

Carvalho arrived in Los Angeles in 2022 after serving as superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools for 14 years, bringing a reputation for raising test scores and a record that also included missteps. In Los Angeles, his tenure became defined as much by scrutiny over management decisions as by academic ambitions, and the federal investigation made his position increasingly untenable.

The district said its focus remains on stability, continuity, student education, workforce support and community trust. Chait will continue to run the system until the board makes a permanent decision, a transition that now puts district governance, labor relations and the search for steady leadership at the center of one of the country’s most closely watched school systems.