Part of the recently approved , the move responds to teachers and parents who protested Carvalho鈥檚 plan to revamp the program, known as Primary Promise. 

Primary Promise used small group instruction to help struggling K-3 students master basic reading and math skills. But Carvalho said it was unsustainable, relying on non-recurring pandemic relief funds. 

This month Carvalho unveiled a new math and reading program that would have required many schools to shoulder the cost of those teachers, known as interventionists. 

With the new funds, that鈥檚 no longer the case 鈥� at least for next year.

In contrast to Primary Promise, Carvalho鈥檚 Literacy and Numeracy Intervention model relies less on dedicated interventionists and more on training regular classroom teachers to deliver different levels of instruction. It also extends support to students in middle and high school.

Supporters of Carvalho鈥檚 plan say its expanded reach is more equitable, targeting struggling readers at all grade levels. Primary Promise advocates say there鈥檚 no better time to address future academic success than the earliest grades, and that the district should be able to both preserve Primary Promise and pay for the new program.

With the recent budget approval, the new plan will take effect this fall. A number of factors suggest the district has its work cut out for it. 

Research that programs that put too much onus on classroom teachers are difficult to pull off. Board members, teachers, parents, and advocates are demanding accountability, asking the district to clarify how the new program will be assessed and regularly update parents on its progress. And they want to see a continued commitment to early literacy despite the planned phaseout of Primary Promise. 

鈥淚 worry about this cycle of remediation that we often get, I believe, in this school district, and not setting a strong enough foundation, districtwide, for students to be proficient readers,鈥� said board member Kelly Gonez at a June 6 meeting during which district officials presented the new program. 

While all agree that investment in early literacy will pay off down the road, supporters of the Carvalho plan call extra attention to the present 鈥� to poor reading and math achievement at all grade levels.

鈥淲e are hearing from parents, their desperation,鈥� said former LAUSD board member Yolie Flores, now president and CEO of the LA-based Families in Schools, one of 24 organizations that signed a letter supporting the new plan.

鈥淎nd I think they started to see a glimmer, a glimpse of what was happening 鈥� that their kids couldn鈥檛 read 鈥� during the pandemic, 鈥榗ause they were home,鈥� she said.

Only 35% of LAUSD , 39% of , and 46% of met or exceeded state reading standards in the 2021-22 school year. For math, respectively, the figures are 37%, 21%, and 18%. 

Flores added the district should 鈥渄o a deep-dive in informing parents.鈥� 

鈥淸Parents] need support in knowing what good instruction looks like, because they can be the best monitors,鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檇 like at least a quarterly, 鈥榟ere鈥檚 what鈥檚 happening, here鈥檚 how many children we are reaching.鈥欌��

LAUSD鈥檚 board members also see communication as a key challenge going forward. Board member Tanya Ortiz Franklin said that she first heard about the cuts to Primary Promise through the advocacy of upset teachers who鈥檇 been notified of potential job reassignment.

鈥淚 do think we often have an opportunity to learn about how we communicate, to staff in particular, when shifts are impacting their jobs, whether that鈥檚 the scope of the work or the location of their work,鈥� she said. 

Primary Promise cost the district $134 million this year and would have cost $192 million had it been expanded to all elementary schools. Those interventionist positions were centrally funded, with individual schools footing none of the cost.

Before last week鈥檚 announcement about the extra funding, the new model would have shifted more of the burden to schools, lowering the district鈥檚 financial responsibility.

But the district identified $40 million of unused federal funding earmarked for the district鈥檚 high-poverty schools. That brings the total 2023-24 cost of the new intervention program to $122 million, according to a district spokesperson. 

While that money will allow some schools to retain their Primary Promise interventionists, many teachers have already moved on. 

Another major difference between Primary Promise and the Carvalho plan is the latter will invest more in teacher training 鈥� and depend more heavily on those who receive it. 

Teachers at all grade levels will receive training in math and reading intervention, with the goal they could then break students into smaller groups, delivering different levels of instruction. Some will have dedicated interventionists to aid them, but many won鈥檛.

George Farkas, a distinguished professor emeritus of education and sociology at the University of California, Irvine, says it鈥檚 not easy for a teacher to simultaneously serve students at grade level and those below it without instructional aides to assist them. 

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 possible for a teacher with a full class to do that,鈥� Farkas said. 鈥淚n addition, you know, these extra training programs don鈥檛 have a very good record in my reading of the literature.鈥� 

At Cohasset St. Elementary School in Van Nuys, former Primary Promise teacher Dana Sapper will continue to work in a similar interventionist role, though with the possibility of taking on students in more grades. 

鈥淚鈥檓 happy because I鈥檓 going to be able to spread it into the upper grades. I think that that鈥檚 a lovely thing,鈥� Sapper said. But still, she worries about the limits of her effectiveness. 

鈥淭here鈥檚 only so far you can spread yourself,鈥� she said.

But Yolie Flores says the fact that some form of intervention will be reaching more students under the new model makes it extremely promising. 

鈥淚t鈥檚 not just a few that need intervention services. It鈥檚, like, almost everybody,鈥� she said. 鈥淕oing from a pull-out [for] a few students to serving more students who need support in literacy is a good thing.鈥� 

Primary Promise was introduced in 2020 by then supt. Austin Beutner with the goal of tackling LAUSD鈥檚 persistently low reading scores at the earliest level. 

By the 2022-23 school year, the program was running in 283 elementary schools. Teachers with specialized training would work with three to five struggling readers at a time, every day, on basic literacy skills like phonemic awareness and decoding. 

Parents, teachers, and have pointed to evidence that reading skills greatly improved under the program 鈥� which the district doesn鈥檛 dispute.

鈥淥f course it works,鈥� Carvalho said at the June 6 board meeting. The problem, he said, had to do with Primary Promise鈥檚 reliance on pandemic aid set to expire in September 2024.

The one-year extension of the program using the anti-poverty funds will help schools transition into the new model, Carvalho said at last week鈥檚 board meeting. 

鈥淲ith that said,鈥� he added, 鈥渨e鈥檙e going to be very clear and honest that there鈥檚 no guarantee that beyond next year we鈥檙e going to be able to use the same strategy.鈥�

Projected on the whiteboard are clip art images of a gold coin and a pot of gold against a rainbow background. St. Patrick鈥檚 Day is just around the corner, and the students at the neighborhood school in Venice are getting ready. 

The story goes like this: A leprechaun has two pots of gold, each with ten coins in it. 

So far, so good. The students have seen this type of problem before. But their teacher, Adriana Mackavoy, adds a twist. In addition to the pots, the leprechaun has three extra coins. 

鈥淚 see those looks you guys are giving me,鈥� says Mackavoy. 鈥淚鈥檓 sorry I didn鈥檛 tell you earlier.鈥� 

With two pots of ten, plus three extra, how many coins does the leprechaun have? 

Compared to California鈥檚 , the multi-step problem is relatively complex for a kindergartner. But some students solve it quickly. A girl in a faux-sheepskin vest displays her worksheet, which consists of a drawing 鈥� two clusters of ten circles, with three on the side 鈥� and her answer: 23. 

Her tablemate, however, is stuck. 

He stares at the worksheet, his blond bangs in his face. He鈥檚 gotten most of the way there 鈥� he knows there are 20 gold coins in the pots. But the extra bit isn鈥檛 making sense. The school鈥檚 principal, who鈥檚 observing, kneels down to help, but at no point intervenes to show the boy how to solve the problem.

And that is quite intentional. 

Coeur d鈥橝lene is one of 220 elementary and preschools at LAUSD in a nearly $6 million pilot math program called Cognitively Guided Instruction, or CGI. Administered through a partnership with the , CGI trains teachers to let student instincts guide math class, often resulting in hands-off instruction.

LAUSD鈥檚 2022-26 calls for moving elementary and middle school students an average of 40 points closer to proficiency in math on the . 

And L.A. Unified鈥檚 continued investment in CGI comes as districts nationwide try to recover after math scores saw unprecedented declines during the pandemic.

The district would like to expand CGI. But there are doubts about the wisdom of making young learners with little math foundation solve new problems with minimal guidance. The debate echoes the over balanced literacy, an approach to reading instruction that basic skills like phonics. 

LAUSD board members are asking for evidence that CGI improves math achievement at pilot schools. So far, there isn鈥檛 any. In fact, as in all district elementary schools, math scores at CGI locations remain low. 

Beyond L.A. Unified, education researchers say that a student-guided approach like CGI, when taken to an extreme, can be for struggling learners than more explicit, step-by-step instruction.

鈥淚s it fair to let some students flounder while other students succeed when we know that with just a little bit of teacher intervention or teacher modeling, all students could likely succeed?鈥� said Sarah Powell, an associate professor of special education at the University of Texas-Austin who spends a lot of time with math students like the kindergartner at Coeur d鈥橝lene. 

Powell is also the founder of an that seeks to raise awareness of research-based math instruction 鈥� much like the science of reading movement has done for literacy, resulting in to move away from balanced literacy.

There is evidence that CGI, which is primarily a teacher-training program, helps math teachers feel more confident and creative in their practice. Some research into its potential impact on student achievement is ongoing. But Powell points out that it鈥檚 hard to measure the effect of teacher training on student performance.

鈥淚t鈥檚 quite easy to impact the people that you directly work with,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 much harder to see those results diffuse to another level of people, and many times that鈥檚 students.鈥�

Other California schools also use CGI, including some in Riverside County and Downey Unified School District. The California Math Framework as one of seven 鈥済eneral instructional models鈥� that teachers might use to help their students reach standards. CGI is also used in Florida schools, such as those in Okaloosa County and Lee County. 

At LAUSD, the program is extremely popular among teachers and administrators. By deemphasizing the rote memorization of facts and algorithms in favor of conceptual understanding, they say, CGI welcomes students who might otherwise come to dread math class. 

鈥淐GI is a movement. You feel the passion right in people,鈥� said LAUSD administrator of elementary instruction Carlen Powell at a January 26 before the school board鈥檚 curriculum and instruction committee.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not a religion, but it鈥檚 something,鈥� she said. 

The nation鈥檚 second-largest school district, where just over a quarter of fifth-graders met or exceeded math standards in 2022 state testing, is considering bringing CGI to all its elementary schools at an estimated cost of $10.3 million. 

Board members, however, would like to see more data. Board president Jackie Goldberg and Tanya Ortiz Franklin have asked for a comparison between CGI and non-CGI schools. 

鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 want to encourage growing the program if we can鈥檛 compare,鈥� said Ortiz Franklin at a recent curriculum and instruction committee meeting. 鈥淛ust looking forward to a little further analysis there.鈥�

Research background and LAUSD data

CGI is based on research from the 20th century about how young students approach math operations.  

The program was articulated in a of in the 1980s and 鈥�90s. An involving 40 classrooms in Wisconsin showed a small positive effect on student achievement. A core intention of CGI, and one that today鈥檚 practitioners emphasize, is to empower young people to see themselves as good at math.

At LAUSD, CGI started at 10 schools in 2016 and has since expanded to 220 of the district鈥檚 nearly 600 elementary schools and preschools. Teachers and principals at participating sites receive year-round training in how to recognize children鈥檚 ideas about math and leverage them for problem-solving.

LAUSD administrators and board members have expressed interest in growing the program, but the division of instruction is waiting on data to justify further investment. 

The data they do have are basic and preliminary, and district officials caution that there鈥檚 not a causal relationship between CGI and test scores.

At schools that have been using the CGI approach for five or more years, 30.28% of students met or exceeded standards on the math portion of state tests. LAUSD officials declined to share specifics on that figure, but for the purposes of a rough comparison, in 2022, 37.23% of third graders, 30.7% of fourth-graders, and 25.24% of fifth graders in all LAUSD schools (excluding charters) the standard. 

鈥淭hirty percent鈥檚 not that great,鈥� conceded Frances Baez, LAUSD鈥檚 chief academic officer.

鈥淏ut overall, L.A. Unified, and across the nation, there is a need to improve outcomes for students in math,鈥� she added. 鈥淎nd so CGI is looking promising, but there鈥檚 more to be done in terms of revamping our math program.鈥� 

The program鈥檚 promise, she said, is based on its popularity among teachers who use it and high appeal for teachers who don鈥檛. 鈥淪chools that don鈥檛 have it are seeking it out,鈥� she said.

Baez also said the district is waiting on a study from the Los Angeles Education Research Institute at UCLA, or LAERI, to decide whether the pilot is worth scaling. However, a representative from LAERI, which is not involved in administering the pilot, said the study is not yet sure to happen.

鈥淲e are currently exploring the feasibility of an evaluation,鈥� wrote LAERI鈥檚 associate director Carrie Miller in an email. 

Beyond LAUSD, what does the research say? 

Decades of research into math instruction suggest that a more hands-off approach like what might be found in a CGI classroom is not the most effective way to teach when embraced at the expense of other teaching methods. 

The hands-off approach requires 鈥渆xtensive planning鈥� from teachers, said Russell Gersten, a professor emeritus at the University of Oregon鈥檚 College of Education and executive director of the Instructional Research Group. 

But for 鈥渕any teachers, it just doesn’t work, the implementation can just be problematic. And that鈥檚 been more or less the history of these approaches,鈥� he said.

A 2008 published by the U.S. Department of Education found that explicit instruction involving 鈥渃lear examples鈥� and 鈥渆xtensive practice鈥� had consistently positive effects for students who struggle with math. Other and have found that struggling math learners benefit from more explicit instruction as opposed to less. 

Depending on how LAUSD teachers implement their training, students at CGI schools might not receive that explicit instruction.

Robert Schoen, an associate professor of math education at Florida State University, appears to be the only researcher currently studying the effectiveness of CGI through large randomized controlled trials.

Since 2018, Schoen and his research teams have published four studies on the effects of CGI training on students鈥� math achievement. 

One found that the program had a potentially positive effect on first-grade achievement and a potentially negative effect on second-grade achievement, though neither were statistically significant. Two other significant positive effects on some grade levels, but not others. The fourth study found no significant effects. 

Schoen looks forward to producing more conclusive research, even if it doesn鈥檛 answer what he calls the 鈥渂illion dollar question鈥�: Determining the right balance between the open-ended and explicit instruction, and how to adjust it based on the situation. 

鈥淚 think everybody is trying to figure out, where鈥檚 that balance between intervening and telling versus staying back and letting [students] be where they are and on their own journey,鈥� he said. 

At LAUSD, not all CGI classrooms are the same

Educators at LAUSD grapple with the question of balance too, and the result is that not all CGI classrooms look the same. 

The district鈥檚 chief academic officer Baez described CGI as a 鈥渟upplement鈥� to the district鈥檚 adopted elementary math curricula, Eureka and Illustrative Mathematics. 

That鈥檚 how Kiana Cotton, a second-grade teacher at Lovelia P. Flournoy Elementary, uses CGI. She uses the Eureka curriculum鈥檚 more structured approach as a way to build upon concepts her students might have explored during more open-ended, CGI-informed instruction at the beginning of the lesson.

鈥淚t鈥檚 going pretty good,鈥� said Cotton. 鈥淚 see the students taking ownership of the strategies. They get excited about coming up to present. They want to show their work.鈥�

Other pilot sites, like Coeur d鈥橝lene Avenue School, embrace the student-guided approach more tightly.

After the kindergarten class, 蜜桃影视 visited a fourth- and first-grade lesson, which proceeded similarly.

The teacher presented the problem. The students worked on it independently. Some solved the problem 鈥� some quickly and creatively 鈥� while others were stumped. Then they conferred with their classmates. The teacher might have stepped in to guide a struggling student, but gave no explicit direction on how to solve the problem.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 really, like, push in and say, 鈥楾his is how you do it: step one, step two, step three,鈥欌�� said Danielle Grasso, Coeur d鈥橝lene鈥檚 principal. 

The future of the CGI program

Were the LAUSD to expand the CGI pilot today, its main justification would be the huge popularity of the program among teachers and administrators. 

This enthusiasm was especially evident at a at which the school board鈥檚 curriculum and instruction committee heard from UCLA leaders and district administrators about the pilot. 

LAUSD principals spoke about CGI鈥檚 influence on teacher morale. CGI is 鈥渁 mindset,鈥� not 鈥渁 curriculum,鈥� said Christina Garcia of the Amanecer Primary Center. Cynthia Braley of Coldwater Canyon Elementary spoke about the pandemic鈥檚 damaging effect on student math performance, but said of CGI that 鈥渨e just can鈥檛 live without it.鈥� 

Board president Jackie Goldberg called the presentation 鈥渋nspiring鈥� and said she鈥檇 been recently impressed observing students solving problems at a CGI school 鈥� though, along with Ortiz Franklin, she did request more data. 

鈥淲e have people clamoring to be a part of the work,鈥� said Carlen Powell, the administrator of elementary instruction. 

鈥淭he work,鈥� said Powell, 鈥渟peaks for itself.鈥�

SEIU Local 99 over the weekend that it plans to hold a 3-day unfair labor practice strike to protest what it characterizes as harassment from LAUSD. The union will announce dates for the strike this Wednesday at a joint rally with the teachers union, UTLA. An on UTLA’s website says its members “are preparing for full solidarity once the [strike] dates are announced.” The rally will take place from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at Grand Park in front of L.A. City Hall. In addition, the LAUSD school board will meet Tuesday to discuss the labor negotiations in a special . 

The union representing LAUSD鈥檚 30,000 school bus drivers, custodians, and other service workers took another step closer to a strike yesterday in a move that could lead to a shutdown of the nation鈥檚 second largest school district.

鈥淲e are canceling the extension of our current union contract,鈥� said SEIU Local 99 executive director Max Arias at yesterday鈥檚 school board meeting. 鈥淭his includes the no-strike provision.鈥� 

The announcement follows a string of threats issued by Local 99 leaders in recent months, each one bringing the union closer, at least rhetorically, to a work stoppage. 

A representative for a coalition of 47 organizations also addressed the negotiations, presenting the board with a letter urging its members 鈥渢o address the historic underinvestment in a group of workers 鈥� namely women of color 鈥� who have consistently demonstrated their commitment to the students and families of Los Angeles.鈥�

In December, service workers rallied in front of LAUSD headquarters. In January and February, the union held a , which passed with 96% support. Now, by canceling the contract extension and its no-strike provision, the union opens the possibility a strike could occur even sooner than anticipated.

鈥淲e do not take this decision lightly,鈥� said Arias. 

Ana Teresa Dahan, managing director of GPSN, spoke on behalf of the 47 organizations.

鈥淲e want to encourage an equitable resolution and believe in the Superintendent鈥檚 leadership to make that happen鈥� said Dahan, quoting from the letter. 

The letter praises Local 99鈥檚 in-person work early in the pandemic and its advocacy to end and increase K-12 arts funding. Other signatories include Educators for Excellence Los Angeles, The Los Angeles Trust for Children鈥檚 Health, and the Los Angeles Urban League. 

The union鈥檚 presence at the board meeting was part of a district-wide action on Tuesday 鈥� informational picketing at nearly 300 schools 鈥� calling attention to alleged unfair labor practices. In documents filed with the state labor board, the union alleges a variety of obstruction and intimidation tactics from district administrators during last month鈥檚 voting period to authorize a strike.

One charge describes a principal who, by continually popping into the staff lounge, would not allow union members to confer in private. Another describes an official who placed boxes in front of a bulletin board holding voting information.

In a Wednesday, LAUSD said it was “disappointed” in SEIU’s decision to cancel its contract extension, acknowledging a strike would “cause a significant disruption to instruction, and would adversely impact our entire system.”

A strike protesting these tactics 鈥� an unfair labor practice strike 鈥� could be called at any time. 

The union鈥檚 other weapon, an economic strike, can only be called once the state鈥檚 negotiating procedure has been exhausted. The union has moved closer in that direction as well. 

Arias said state-facilitated mediation has failed, leading to the step of fact-finding, during which a three-member panel reviews each side鈥檚 arguments and produces a non-binding recommendation. 

The district has 鈥渕ade some movements I want to commend them on,鈥� Arias said in an interview, adding that during recent negotiations, LAUSD agreed to expand health benefits for teaching assistants and after school workers. 

But, he added, they haven鈥檛 come close to meeting the union鈥檚 core demand of a 30% wage increase as well as an hourly bump of $2, the latter proposed with the union鈥檚 lowest-paid members in mind. 

The average annual salary for union members is $25,000, and many are living paycheck to paycheck.

Three board members on Tuesday 鈥� Nick Melvoin,Tanya Ortiz Franklin, and board president Jackie Goldberg 鈥� wore purple, the color of SEIU. LAUSD superintendent Alberto Carvalho showed up late, missing Local 99 president Conrado Guerrero鈥檚 two minutes of comment, which highlighted members鈥� work to prepare sack lunches and maintain facilities during the early pandemic. 

鈥淗ow soon LAUSD forgets,鈥� Guerrero said. 

When Arias made his announcement, some board members looked surprised, but Carvalho appeared unfazed, moving only to lift a small glass coffee mug to his lips.

Local 99 has the backing of United Teachers Los Angeles, whose board to support the service workers if they struck by not crossing the picket line.

On March 15, Local 99 and UTLA will hold a joint rally at LA City Hall. 

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 蜜桃影视, 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�