When Los Angeles Unified board members elevated Andrés Chait to superintendent without launching a national search, they chose the leader already running the district, a decision that reflected a preference for continuity as LAUSD navigates financial pressures and months of leadership uncertainty.
The decision turns Chait, a longtime LAUSD educator and administrator who has served as acting superintendent since February, into the permanent leader of the nation’s second-largest school district at a precarious moment. LAUSD faces a structural deficit, possible cuts, declining enrollment, labor pressures and lingering questions about the departure of former Superintendent Alberto Carvalho.
Those interviewed for this story said Chait’s long history inside LAUSD gives him an unusual advantage at a time when the district must confront difficult financial decisions while maintaining academic progress and rebuilding confidence among employees, families and the broader community.
Chait said the board’s decision was ultimately one for the board to explain, but said what had been conveyed to him was that the district has made academic gains and has systems in place that are working.
“I think the thinking really is to maintain the positive momentum that the district has for our students over the last years,” Chait said in an interview Thursday.
For Chait, continuity does not mean avoiding change, he said.
“As someone who’s been with the district for a little over 28 years, I don’t really have much of a learning curve, as it were, in terms of how LAUSD works,” Chait said. “I know the systems. I know the ones that work well. I know the ones that certainly need some addressing.”
He added: “Continuity does not mean that we don’t have the ability to ask hard questions and make changes as needed.”
Chait identified two major priorities as he begins the job permanently: building on the district’s academic gains and addressing LAUSD’s structural deficit.
“To be plain, we spend more money every year than we bring in,” Chait said. “That’s something that we need to address in a thoughtful and transparent way over the next two to three years.”
If reductions are needed, he said, the district should try to make them as far from school sites as possible.
“You begin always with the school at the center of your decision making…If reductions do need to be made, and to be clear, they do need to be made. They are made as far away from the school site as possible.” Chait said. “You make the changes that need to be made in as transparent and thoughtful a way as possible.”
Pedro Noguera, dean of the University of Southern California’s Rossier School of Education, said the board’s decision to move quickly made sense given the district’s financial challenges.
“The district needs stability right now, given the many challenges they’re facing,” Noguera said. “Sometimes decisive action is more important than taking a long time to do a search and deliberate.”
With LAUSD facing a structural deficit and difficult budget decisions, he said, “You don’t want to be uncertain at the top when you make such major decisions.”
Noguera said Chait’s long history inside LAUSD is an advantage because he knows the system, the staff and how the district works.
“He knows the people, they know him,” Noguera said.
Julie Marsh, a professor of education policy at USC’s Rossier School of Education, said Chait’s appointment was less of a leadership transition than the formalization of one already underway. Chait has spent the last four months leading the district as acting superintendent, overseeing major decisions including fiscal planning and labor negotiations.
“It’s a formalization of someone who’s already really been leading the district for a bit,” Marsh said.
Marsh said Chait nonetheless inherits a daunting list of challenges, including fiscal pressures, declining enrollment, chronic absenteeism, uncertainty over state funding, labor commitments, possible layoffs or school consolidations, and the need to rebuild public trust after months of uncertainty. She said he will also need to sustain recent academic gains while navigating politically charged debates over immigration and funding for public education.
Marsh said the board’s decision suggests it was not looking for someone to make sweeping changes, but rather someone who could build on initiatives already underway.
“The board is clearly saying that they’re not looking for someone to make big changes,” Marsh said. “They’re happy with the direction of the district at the moment and want to build on that.”
That message resonated with Nicolle Fefferman, a veteran LAUSD teacher, parent and co-founder of the parent advocacy group Parents Supporting Teachers, who said she was “pleasantly surprised and relieved” by Chait’s appointment.
She said the board’s swift decision signaled a desire for stability ahead of the new school year and reflected confidence in someone who already understands the district’s culture and communities.
Rather than arriving with the mindset that the system needs to be overhauled, Chait can build on strengths that already exist, she said.
“Having somebody from the inside makes it a lot easier to identify what it is we are doing really well because there’s some good stuff happening in this district,” Fefferman said. “Starting from that place of awareness, that place of pride, is very different than somebody coming in from the outside with eyes interested in trying to find the problems first.”
Still, she said Chait faces an important task of repairing relationships after years of strained morale.
“There is a lot of repair that needs to happen with school staff and families,” Fefferman said. “My hope is that Mr. Chait will focus on rebuilding a sense of teamwork…and building trust again.”
The appointment also drew a largely positive response from labor unions and community organizations.
United Teacher Los Angeles, which represents about 37,000 teachers and other staff, said in a statement that it hopes Chait will prioritize students’ needs and work collaboratively with educators, school staff and families. The union said it would continue advocating for investments, transparency and accountability to support students, regardless of who is in office.
Max Arias, executive director of SEIU Local 99, which represents roughly 30,000 support staff, said the union hopes Chait’s appointment marks a continued commitment to partnering with frontline workers. Arias noted that Chait played a key role in reaching the labor agreement in April that averted a strike.
Our Voice: Communities for Quality Education, a nonprofit that advocates for Latino and Indigenous immigrant families, also welcomed the appointment, saying Chait had built relationships with families, met with them after becoming acting superintendent and been responsive to their concerns.
Chait’s appointment comes just three days after Carvalho resigned, ending months of uncertainty over the district’s leadership following a federal investigation into the former superintendent.
Federal agents searched Carvalho’s San Pedro home and his office at LAUSD headquarters in February during an investigation that appears to be connected, at least in part, to Carvalho’s interaction with contractors associated with AllHere, the now-defunct company behind LAUSD’s AI Chatbot initiative.
Authorities have not publicly detailed the nature of the investigation. Carvalho has not been charged with a crime and has denied any wrongdoing. He remained on paid administrative leave while investigation continued before resigning Sunday.
The district has not publicly detailed the terms of Carvalho’s departure, including whether the board approved a separation agreement. Chait said his own employment agreement is expected to be released at one of the first board meetings of the coming school year.
Chait said his leadership style will depend on collaboration rather than a single person trying to solve the district’s problems alone.
“I’m not someone who believes in what I call the Superwoman or Superman theory of leadership,” Chait said. “You need to work in coalition.”
That means bringing people into conversations, listening to feedback, finding common ground and moving forward, he said.
“You can’t bring folks in and then just say, ‘Well, I already have all the answers,’” Chait said.