LAUSD board approves Carvalho’s employment agreement following months of praise and criticism

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The Los Angeles Unified School District’s school board approved a new employment agreement for Superintendent Alberto Carvalho at Tuesday’s board meeting, weeks after unanimously reappointing him. 

Carvalho said during the Sept. 17 meeting that he would not accept any salary increases or additional benefits, and the agreement approved by the board Tuesday maintains his salary at $440,000 until his contract expires on Feb. 13, 2030. It also includes “Auto & Other fringe benefits” that previously included a $1.5 million district-paid life insurance policy, along with a $50,000 annual contribution to a retirement account and access to private security, cars and a driver. 

Carvalho’s renewal comes just months after some members of the community, including the Facebook advocacy group Parents Supporting Teachers, called for his removal in January, arguing that LAUSD’s response to the Palisades fire — and the decision to keep schools open the day after the fires ignited — was misguided and led to a “chaotic and dangerous scramble for families and staff.” 

“We are deeply disappointed in the board’s decision to renew the superintendent’s contract,” according to a statement by the group.

In a statement to EdSource, the group’s administrators called the board’s decision to renew Carvalho’s contract “ill informed” and claimed that board members failed to “solicit feedback from the communities that elected them to represent the best interests of students, staff, and families.” 

Carvalho said in a statement that he was “deeply honored by the Board’s confidence and the opportunity to continue serving the students and families of Los Angeles Unified.”

He said he looks “forward to building on this momentum and ensuring that every child in every neighborhood has access to the high-quality education they deserve.”

During Carvalho’s tenure, the district has also come under scrutiny for its alleged mishandling of Proposition 28 funds for arts education, a series of cyberattacks and data breaches, and the downfall of an AI chatbot designed to be a personal assistant for students. 

Carvalho began as LAUSD’s superintendent in 2022, soon after students returned to physical classrooms following the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

As a result, he has prioritized recovering pandemic learning losses and reducing chronic absenteeism through iAttend, a program where school and district administrators go door to door to understand students’ needs and bring them back into the classroom. 

Since the 2021-22 academic year, Los Angeles Unified’s rate of chronic absenteeism has fallen from 36.9% to 25.1% in 2023-24, according to Ed-Data. And they have seen consistent growth in state standardized test scores, with LAUSD students outperforming their counterparts across the state and doing better than they were pre-pandemic.

And as teachers look ahead to another four years under Carvalho’s leadership, the union representing LAUSD educators, United Teachers Los Angeles, stressed the importance of investing in schools and improving life in the classroom for teachers and students alike. 

“Now that we are facing another four years under his leadership, Superintendent Carvalho must prioritize recruitment and retention and put the $5 billion in funds to work for Los Angeles families and our communities,” UTLA said in a statement to EdSource. 

Carvalho has also garnered widespread attention for his commitment to the safety of migrant students during a time of heightened immigration enforcement across the region. 

“He has worked hard to gain the trust of parents by taking time to meet with our families, learn about their needs and concerns, and implement feedback wherever possible,” said Evelyn Aleman, the organizer of the parent group Our Voice/Nuestra Voz. “He is leading with courage and heart during these very difficult times.”