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When Los Angeles Unified announced last December that Alberto Carvalho would be its next superintendent, Ana Ponce was skeptical. 

The executive director of Great Public Schools Now, an advocacy organization, hoped the district would pick someone from the community, not an outsider from 2,700 miles away. But so far, the charismatic educator who led Miami-Dade for 14 years has won her over. She called his efforts to talk publicly about next year鈥檚 budget 鈥渞efreshing鈥� and applauded his move to add to the school calendar to tackle student learning loss. 

鈥淗e has shown bold and decisive leadership quite early,鈥� she said. 

That sentiment is echoed by observers from union leaders to parent groups in the nation鈥檚 second-largest school system. Since he started, Carvalho has tried to rally the city around a district that is 100,000 students over the next decade. On social media, he plays the role of cheerleader and one-man hype machine, applauding student and celebrating this year鈥檚 graduates while pushing for more options to attract families. 

But for Carvalho, whose tenure began on Valentine鈥檚 Day, the honeymoon is likely to be short-lived.

Some worry that state test scores, due later this year, will reveal further pandemic-related decline. And with hemorrhaging enrollment, he鈥檒l soon need to make tough calls about closing schools and moving staff. That could put him on a collision course with the district’s notoriously tough teachers union as it prepares for upcoming contract negotiations. 

Ben Austin, a long-time parent advocate in the district, said Carvalho 鈥渟eems to have found his initial footing,鈥� but added that the leader鈥檚 first big test will be at the bargaining table.

鈥淗e will have to defy history by navigating a labyrinth of powerful special interests in order to actually put the children of Los Angeles first,鈥� he said.

As Carvalho prepares to release his vision for the district, he said he has spent many of his 14-hour days visiting nearly 70 schools and interacting with 6,000 students, employees and community members in an effort to present an accurate picture of the challenges ahead.

In a wide-ranging interview with 成人抖阴, he described LA鈥檚 educators and principals as committed but stymied by a system that hampers their ability to address problems ranging from teacher vacancies to broken air-conditioners.

鈥淭he connection between supervision, expectation and outcome is weak,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat’s where I think there is a significant vulnerability that we need to overcome.鈥�

Financially, he鈥檚 negotiating conflicting realities. The district still has $2.5 billion in relief funds to spend. But Carvalho鈥檚 first budget will be aimed at preventing the system from falling off a so-called fiscal cliff in a few years when that money dries up. 

In April, he described the scenario as 鈥淎rmageddon.鈥� But during a May 17 board meeting, he offered a more positive spin, saying students should expect 鈥渆nhanced鈥� services.

鈥淭his is the right time to join LAUSD as a parent and employee,鈥� he said. 鈥淣o one should be thinking the sky is falling.鈥�

Those words comforted board member Jackie Goldberg.

鈥淲e are not about to go under. We are not going to stop doing things for kids at schools,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e just have to find a way to restructure the budget so that as the money declines, it does not impact the things we care about most.鈥�

鈥楾horough鈥� reviews of closures

Some parents are already anxious about not knowing whether their child will need to move to a new school. Dena Vatcher, a parent in Los Angeles鈥檚 Westchester neighborhood, sends her younger son to Orville Wright Middle School STEAM Magnet, which now occupies a newly renovated site with a refurbished library and robotics lab. 

The district had tentative plans to relocate the school 鈥� which has a larger Black population than most L.A. middle schools 鈥� to Westchester Enriched Sciences Magnet, a high school campus. The charter schools now sharing that site would take over the Wright location.

The proposed switch didn鈥檛 sit well with Vatcher and other Wright parents who see it as a victory for charter schools that would get the upgraded facility. The plan appeared to be on a fast track until Carvalho came on board. In January, he , 鈥淭his issue will be thoroughly reviewed.鈥�

鈥淗e does know what’s going on, and has not greenlighted the move,鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檓 encouraged that he came in and said, 鈥榃e鈥檙e going to look at this.鈥� 鈥�

During his tenure in Miami-Dade, Carvalho closed roughly 16 schools, he said. But he dislikes the option unless he can offer families something better in return. 

鈥淚f you close the school, you extinguish the only safe haven for kids in many neighborhoods. You shut down [what] may be the only playground 鈥� the only area where kids have connectivity,鈥� he said. 鈥淏efore you do that, you really need to check many boxes.鈥�

At the same time, he takes issue with the state鈥檚鈥� and especially Los Angeles鈥檚 鈥� practice of allowing charter schools to co-locate in buildings with traditional schools, which he calls 鈥渄ivisive.鈥�

鈥淥nce you have five different schools in one single building with five principals and only one building facilities manager, it is a recipe for disaster,鈥� he said.

While allows charters to occupy unused space in district schools, Carvalho said he wants to first look in his 鈥渙wn front yard and backyard鈥� to reduce the friction.

鈥楢sking for a lot鈥�

Carvalho鈥檚 team is also about to enter into contract negotiations with 鈥� a process that proved contentious under his predecessor, Austin Beutner.

The union is proposing a 20% raise over the next two years, smaller class sizes and $5,000 retention bonuses for counselors and other support positions. They argue that with roughly $3 billion in , now is not the time to be making cuts 

Those negotiations will 鈥渂e a challenge for him,鈥� said Pedro Noguera, dean of education at the University of Southern California, who has known Carvalho since he was an assistant chief in Miami. 鈥淭hey are a strong union, and they are asking for a lot.鈥�

But Carvalho said many of their proposals, such as lowering class sizes and adding more counselors, 鈥渞esonate鈥� with him, and he expects to be able to 鈥渃arve out common ground鈥� as the process moves ahead. 

Leaders of UTLA did not respond to requests for an interview. But Nery Paiz, president of Associated Administrators of Los Angeles, which represents principals, likes what he鈥檚 seen from Carvalho so far.

鈥淗e鈥檚 no nonsense,鈥� Paiz said. 鈥淗e knows things that work because they have worked in the past.鈥�

Carvalho has imported a process he used in Miami to address what he calls the district’s most 鈥渇ragile,鈥� low-performing schools. Principals and their supervisors meet with Carvalho and top district leaders to examine achievement data on a 鈥渄ashboard,鈥� discuss staffing needs and identify successful practices other schools can adopt.

鈥淗e鈥檚 very focused on the right stuff,鈥� said Tanya Ortiz Franklin, a member of the district鈥檚 school board, who frequently visits classrooms with Carvalho. With shifting COVID rates, he had to make some tough early decisions about lifting a and delaying a . Even so, she added, 鈥淗e prioritizes student outcomes. He doesn’t push them to the side because we鈥檙e in a pandemic.鈥�

He has also taken personal responsibility for some students 鈥� more than 40 who were chronically absent during the pandemic 鈥� and donated $8,000 from his early paychecks to provide some with scholarships. One mother he contacted told him her daughter was in foster care and not to call again. A high school student who had been missing classes told him he takes care of two younger siblings who are also missing school.

The student told him: 鈥溾�業鈥檓 so sorry. Are you really the superintendent? Can you help me?鈥� 鈥�

Carvalho said he鈥檚 limited in addressing housing costs that are pushing families out of Los Angeles and combating a homelessness problem that has become so pervasive, children are encountering 鈥渦nclothed individuals鈥� outside schools. 

He鈥檚 already from the Los Angeles City Council to relocate homeless encampments away from school grounds and child care centers. 

鈥淓verybody keeps asking me, 鈥榃hat’s your solution for declining enrollment? What’s your solution for [kids in poverty]?鈥欌�� he said. 鈥淪even-year-olds don’t wake up one day in the morning and tell parents, 鈥榊ou know, I’m leaving L.A.鈥� The issues we’re dealing with are a reflection of economic conditions that exist in this community.鈥�

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