LAUSD superintendent Alberto Carvalho resigned Sunday night, effective June 21, 2026, after four months under FBI investigation that began with an FBI raid on Feb. 25. His legal team confirmed he sent a resignation letter late Sunday to the district and board
Sunday night ended with an abrupt silence inside Los Angeles Unified: Alberto Carvalho. the superintendent at the helm of the nation’s second-largest school district. stepped down after four months under FBI investigation. His resignation. effective June 21. 2026. brought a close to a tenure that had been marked by major academic gains. political visibility. and repeated brushes with crisis.
Carvalho’s legal team confirmed that he sent a resignation letter late Sunday to the Los Angeles Unified School District and to individual members of the Board of Education. In the letter. Carvalho began by writing. “It has been a great honor to serve you. ” addressing “the students. families. teachers. staff. and community of LAUSD.” He said. “Over the past four years. together. we have made historic progress — gains that belong to our students. our educators. staff and our communities.”.
He did not directly mention the early-morning FBI raid at his home and district office in late February—an event that led to him being placed on paid leave and later an acting superintendent being named. The letter only hinted at the reason behind the departure. focusing instead on a vow that “Placing students first has always guided my work. ” and adding that he wanted schools to remain focused on students and learning “without distraction.”.
“Because I believe our schools must remain focused on students and learning without distraction, I am resigning as Superintendent of LAUSD effective today, June 21, 2026,” Carvalho wrote.
The district has not said whether the resignation includes a negotiated settlement. Carvalho’s contract sets a minimum of a 12-month payout if the district terminates his employment without cause.
Carvalho remains under federal investigation. and the legal and political shock of that fact has not faded with the announcement of his resignation. Law enforcement sources say the federal investigation is tied at least in part to Carvalho’s interaction with a subcontractor that brought a failed AI chatbot venture to the district. In his only previous public statement since the raid—issued through his attorneys—Carvalho said that he committed no wrongdoing and also said he wanted to return to work.
His resignation letter highlighted what he described as progress made during his four-year tenure. He cited widely noted gains in state test scores. a record graduation rate. and an improved record on Advanced Placement courses and tests. He also pointed to voter approval of the district’s largest-ever school modernization bond. Carvalho wrote that “Most importantly. ” his progress had been “equitable. ” saying that “Low-income students. students with disabilities. foster youth. and Black and Latino students all exceeded their pre-pandemic performance — an outcome that reflects the hard work and commitment of so many across this District.”.
For many in the district. the end of the Carvalho era is tangled with the investigation that has hovered over LAUSD since the Feb. 25 raid. That morning, the FBI raided Carvalho’s home and office. The raid coincided with another raid in Florida at the home of education sales consultant Debra Kerr. a longtime professional associate of Carvalho. Kerr, like Carvalho, has not been charged with wrongdoing.
The federal investigation relates to Carvalho’s interaction with one or more contractors. One element under review was the district’s contract with AllHere, a now-defunct company that produced an ill-fated chatbot. The project was supposed to use artificial intelligence to revolutionize education, but it was unplugged after several months.
Two days after the Feb. 25 raid, on Feb. 27, the Board of Education placed Carvalho on paid administrative leave. The board appointed veteran district administrator Andres Chait as acting superintendent.
Chait helped the district avoid immediate labor upheaval: he narrowly averted a three-union strike in April with agreements that restored labor peace. But those agreements left critics questioning whether the district could afford the pact—and whether Carvalho would have pushed harder for a more affordable deal if he had remained.
Union leaders had been watching Carvalho closely since the raid. Last week. in interviews with The Times. the leaders of the two largest unions—United Teachers Los Angeles and Service Employees International Union Local 99—called for Carvalho to be replaced. Some union voices had viewed Carvalho cautiously. even if they did not attack him with the intensity used against some past superintendents.
The uncertainty around Carvalho’s status hung over the district as it faced budget stress and employee layoffs. And his departure does not bring clarity about how long the investigation could last or where it might go next. There is no announced timeline related to this probe, and the federal scrutiny around LAUSD extends beyond Carvalho.
Even with or without him, LAUSD is the target of at least two federal probes. The Trump administration is examining whether the district discriminates against white students by offering slightly smaller classes and additional counseling to schools that are predominantly nonwhite. A separate investigation is looking into whether the popular Black Student Achievement Plan provides illegal advantages to Black students based on their race. The district says its conduct is legal and, last week, restored funding to the Black Student Achievement Plan. The funding had been under consideration for sharp reduction as part of proposed cuts designed to avoid insolvency in two to three years.
Carvalho’s resignation lands on top of a complicated record. He arrived in Los Angeles Unified in February 2022 as a nationally acclaimed superintendent, after leading Miami-Dade County Public Schools for 14 years. He was hired for four years at a salary of $440,000.
During his tenure. Carvalho adopted a strategic plan that included regular review of test scores from both annual state tests and periodic district assessments. He also took steps aimed at preventing fentanyl overdoses and reducing absenteeism. His efforts to offer enrichment and catch-up work during intercessions initially moved slowly, but later became a recurring instructional program.
The district received significant state and national praise for improved test scores. It took five years to surpass pre-pandemic levels. but the pace of recovery and improvement. according to the district’s widely shared narrative. surpassed that of most school systems. Gov. Gavin Newsom praised Carvalho as a national education leader.
There were setbacks and high-profile controversies as well. A three-day strike took place in March 2023. In the aftermath, large salary increases followed, especially for low-salaried nonteaching employees, though raises applied across categories of workers.
The district continued to struggle with declining enrollment and chronic absenteeism. which some experts said were exacerbated by federal deportation threats. An early promise that later became an embarrassment came in March 2024. when the district unveiled “Ed. ” an artificial intelligence chatbot meant to guide families through a child’s education and broader development. The project was unplugged within months—before it was widely deployed—after the company behind it collapsed.
The company’s founder was later charged federally, and Carvalho was pulled into the investigation as a person of interest. The financial cost of the chatbot failure, so far, has been about $3 million, according to LAUSD.
Last September, the school board unanimously approved a new four-year contract for Carvalho. At the time. board member Karla Griego said. “Superintendent Carvalho understands that every decision must serve the best interests of our children. ” adding that he had “led with empathy. courage. and a relentless drive to expand opportunities for all students. ” and that she “look[ed] forward to what we will accomplish together in the years ahead.”.
Now, those words will be tested not by future promises from Carvalho, but by the district he leaves behind—one still facing intense federal scrutiny and the unfinished question of what, exactly, the FBI investigation is pursuing.
LAUSD Alberto Carvalho FBI investigation resignation Andres Chait AllHere chatbot Ed chatbot Black Student Achievement Plan Debra Kerr United Teachers Los Angeles SEIU Local 99