It took me a while to get to this, but then again it's hard to say goodbye.
So Los Angeles Unified School District now-former Superintendent Alberto Carvalho has resigned. The little man with a big plan apparently got caught up in a fraudulent contract brouhaha and had his home and offices raided by the FBI. After a few months on the couch under suspension, he finally called it quits, which makes one wonder what's next.
Now, LAUSD is no stranger to corrupt and incompetent leadership. We did have a John Deasy on our letterhead for a bit. We had David L. Brewer. The Super's office changed hands ten times while I worked there, and twice since. LAUSD. hired the same guy, Ramón C. Cortines, three different times, mainly because he could actually talk to people and get things done without stepping on his own dick every other week.
And now Alberto Carvalho has hit the proverbial road and been replaced by someone named Andrés Chait, who was once an actual teacher. So we got that going for us. Which is nice. He was chosen unanimously as Carvalho's replacement by the LAUSD school board, but I wouldn't read too much into that. So were Deasy, and Brewer, and Carvalho for that matter. Makes you wonder about the seriousness of the Board. As for Chait, time will tell.
But a few parting words for Alberto M. Carvalho. When I saw he had been given the job, I had a few choice observations about Mr. Carvalho (see below), and he has proven to be all that I expected and more. But I'm going to start with one good thing, from April of 2025:
Who will stop them? LAUSD says "Hold my beer."
CBS News Los Angeles (KCAL) is reporting today that "Department of Homeland Security agents were denied entry into two South Los Angeles elementary schools earlier this week, according to a district spokesperson."Going to the mattresses to protect students and their parents from marauding ICE goons was a good thing, and as I wrote then:
I have written a lot of things about Alberto Carvalho and said a lot more and none of them have been good. This is a good thing he's doing. It goes beyond simply putting up a "We Are One" resource page on the website. It's the natural next step in a broad campaign to protect students and their families from the kind of immigration terrorism favored by the Trump administration.
Unfortunately, my suspicion that Carvalho was in other ways a slick, self-serving huckster pitching all manner of shiny objects to credulous politicians, parents and boards of education turned out to be only too true. Carvalho was and is what he's always been: a fast-talking, overconfident "reformer" offering magic technology or some novel "system" in place of sound pedagogy and curriculum.
There's lots to criticize about this choice for Superintendent and about the way the Board of Education unanimously votes for problematic candidates. And I'm particularly exasperated by UTLA who, it seems to me, avoids even taking a position on potential candidates. If you can't identify and support the best person for your students and families and members, you're just lazy and timid.
If the problem is an opaque process that shields contenders from public scrutiny, then that practice should be challenged in contract talks and in the community. I'm sure parents would appreciate an ally in the fight for transparency.
Anyway, Carvalho is gone. I guess we'll find out if the New Boss is same as the Old Boss.
If you are interested, following are links to some of my Carvalho stuff. Old news, now.
I wrote this in November 2021 as LAUSD started looking for a new superintendent: No experience necessary, and this on December 14, when Carvalho was tapped.
Tuesday, December 14, 2021
Monday, December 27, 2021
Monday, February 14, 2022
Saturday, August 13, 2022
In Local News...
Sunday, February 26, 2023
LAUSD Up -- Periodic Reporting on the Los Angeles Unified School District - Episode Five
Progress Report
Carvalho Edition