LAUSD Superintendent on Leave After FBI Raid
Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Alberto Carvalho has been placed on leave following an FBI raid on his home and office. The reasons for the federal investigation have not been disclosed, creating significant uncertainty for the leadership of the nation's second-largest school district.
The federal investigation into LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalho appears to be connected to a multimillion-dollar contract with the now-defunct AI education technology company, AllHere. The company was hired in 2024 to create a chatbot for the district, a project Carvalho had publicly supported. AllHere later went into bankruptcy, and its founder was indicted on fraud charges. FBI agents executed search warrants at Carvalho's homes in the Los Angeles and Miami areas, as well as the LAUSD headquarters. Sources indicate the inquiry originated from a referral by New York prosecutors investigating fraud at AllHere. The investigation is reportedly focused on Carvalho personally, not the school district as a whole. Prior to his 2022 appointment in Los Angeles, Carvalho was the superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools for 14 years. In Miami, he was credited with improving academic performance and graduation rates. However, he also faced scrutiny in 2020 when a nonprofit he founded solicited a large donation from a company with a pending district contract, which was deemed to create an "appearance of impropriety." The LAUSD board voted unanimously to place Carvalho on paid administrative leave and appointed Andres Chait, a 27-year district veteran and former Chief of School Operations, as the acting superintendent to ensure continuity. The board stated the action was to allow the district to operate without distraction. Carvalho, an immigrant from Portugal who was once undocumented and homeless, rose to become a nationally recognized figure in education, named National Superintendent of the Year in 2014. He recently secured a second four-year contract with LAUSD at an annual salary of $440,000. Some have speculated the investigation could be politically motivated, as Carvalho has been an outspoken critic of federal immigration enforcement actions near schools. He has publicly clashed with the Trump administration over its immigration policies affecting students and their families.
