We’re making strong progress in Los Angeles Unified, but more work lies ahead

LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalho interacting with a student.

Credit: LAUSD

I’ve had the privilege of being the superintendent of Los Angeles Unified for a year and have been reflecting on the incredible things we’ve accomplished together. Certainly, the past year has been difficult for many. Our students and families have been adjusting to the enormous disruption caused by the pandemic.

A year later, after tireless work by our teachers, employees and administrators, our schools have stabilized, and the district is moving in the right direction. Throughout this work, I’ve grown more ardent in my belief that Los Angeles Unified is the premier urban school district in the nation.

We have accomplished extraordinary things in a short period of time and, more importantly, the number of student lives impacted is exponentially growing. Many of us entered education for that very reason — because we have a passion for teaching students and seeing the light bulbs of possibility and dreams reached.

To achieve these results, we targeted a handful of core areas that needed improvement for our schools to excel. They included attendance, instruction, modernizing spaces, finances and individualized learning.

Focusing on attendance

The only way we can meaningfully enact change is if students are in our classrooms.

We implemented a student outreach and attendance initiative called iAttend, in which dedicated employees across the district went door to door visiting students whose attendance records were problematic, and working on solutions with their families.

We hosted student outreach days in which we visited nearly 9,000 homes and almost 30 crisis housing sites for unhoused students and families. Through these efforts, we have decreased chronic absenteeism by 10 percentage points.

Adding opportunities for instruction

Our employees worked tirelessly to mitigate the learning loss many students experienced during the pandemic. We increased instructional time and added opportunities for credit recovery. We provided high-quality summer school programs with over 100,000 students in attendance.

We added four optional days into the school calendar for students to receive individual, customized support through one-on-one or small-group instruction time. The Acceleration Days were designed to afford the most academically fragile students additional instruction time for credit recovery, enrichment opportunities and one-on-one support. We had close to 40,000 students attend our Acceleration Days in December.

Expanding tutoring options

We created tutoring opportunities for every student in the district. We provided on-demand, 24/7 virtual tutoring programs to accommodate family schedules. We offered intensified options to support our most fragile students with virtual and in-person options. We are providing tutoring services to over 107,000 students.

Making spaces beautiful, green and modern

I made a commitment to invest in modernization projects that would simultaneously create beautiful modern spaces and reduce our carbon footprint through greening initiatives. We have more than 900 facilities benefiting from $6.6 billion in bond projects. This school year alone, we anticipate completing almost 425 projects valued at nearly $1 billion, including the completion of a modernization project at Cleveland Charter High School, districtwide upgrades to school cafeteria kitchens and new charging stations to support our electric bus fleet.

The district also began ambitious sustainability efforts, including a $50 million investment in an electric school bus fleet and charging infrastructure, and urgent prioritization of on-campus greening. We take pride in our role as a leading organization in Los Angeles and are committed to doing our part to help combat climate change.

Improving the districts’ financial health

Four prominent rating agencies are in agreement about the financial outlook for Los Angeles Unified, portraying the district’s long-term budget outlook in positive terms. While this may be inside baseball for some, it speaks to the district’s prudent fiscal management and a unified consensus behind our Strategic Plan. Because of the positive financial ratings and an alignment that will reduce redundancies and increase efficiencies, the district will save almost $40 million. Our finances are on solid ground.

Part of any employer’s fiscal health includes the well-being of its employees and their right to financial security and stability, especially in a period in which the global economy is in precarious shape. Working out a fair and equitable contract with our labor partners will be critical. We are committed to offsetting the pressures of inflation and have set aside an inflation protection fund to safeguard Los Angeles Unified from economic uncertainties.

Our students are thriving. Los Angeles Unified posted its highest four-year graduate rate of 87.4% and, for the first time, outpaced the state average. Our students are demonstrating tremendous resiliency in the face of adversity.

We’ve been able to accomplish so much over one year because our educators, families and students are united on common goals. Every school I visit, and every student I meet, leaves me speechless in their resolve, intellect and commitment to bettering the world.

Our work is far from complete. We are still contending with a once-in-a-generation health crisis, which is far from over. There are significant learning gaps to close. And other challenges abound. But few school systems can outperform what Los Angeles Unified has recently accomplished. It is truly a special place, and I am grateful to serve alongside you.

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Alberto Carvalho is superintendent of Los Angeles Unified School District. 

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