FBI raids home and office of Los Angeles school superintendent

LOS ANGELES — FBI agents raided the home and office of Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) Superintendent Alberto Carvalho on Wednesday morning as part of an investigation into his previous tenure in Florida.

Federal agents conducted simultaneous searches at Carvalho’s residence in San Pedro and a property linked to him in Broward County, Florida. Agents also executed a search warrant at the LAUSD headquarters in downtown Los Angeles.

Carvalho took over the nation's second-largest school district in 2022. He previously served as the superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools from 2008 until his move to Los Angeles.

While the FBI has not disclosed the specific nature of the investigation and case records remain sealed, sources say the probe involves allegations that Carvalho accepted bribes from a business during his time in Miami. The investigation is reportedly not directly related to LAUSD operations.

In a statement, LAUSD confirmed "law enforcement activity" at its headquarters and stated the district is cooperating with the investigation. Several employees were asked to leave the building during the raid.

Carvalho has canceled a television interview that was scheduled to take place on Thursday.

The FBI raid targeting Alberto Carvalho represents a significant blow to the credibility of the leadership at the nation’s second-largest school district. While initial reports indicate the federal probe stems from his previous tenure in Miami rather than his current role at the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), the development has nonetheless triggered a severe crisis of confidence in his administration.

For an educational system responsible for hundreds of thousands of students, executive stability is a prerequisite for effective governance. The search of LAUSD headquarters—even as part of a wider investigation into legacy issues—sends a destabilizing message to parents, educators, and staff. This federal scrutiny threatens to overshadow Carvalho’s ongoing policy initiatives, ranging from pandemic recovery efforts to navigating sensitive immigration mandates.

The nature of the potential allegations—bribery—raises fundamental questions regarding Carvalho’s personal integrity and fitness for office. Even if the district itself is not the subject of the inquiry, the Board of Education now faces immense pressure to exercise its oversight role. Trustees must weigh whether the Superintendent can effectively lead while operating under the cloud of a federal investigation.

The lack of immediate transparency, due to warrants remaining under seal, has created an information vacuum ripe for speculation. This uncertainty risks paralyzing the district’s decision-making apparatus and diverting resources away from core educational objectives. Ultimately, the long-term impact on public trust will depend on how the LAUSD board manages this institutional crisis and the degree of transparency they provide to a concerned public.

For the Vietnamese-American community in Los Angeles, where so many families rely on LAUSD to educate the next generation, this news has sparked a wave of deep concern and unease. Public education is the bedrock of upward mobility for immigrant families, and the stability of the school system is a matter of paramount importance.

The investigation into the district’s top leadership has severely eroded public trust. Vietnamese parents are now questioning whether this turmoil at the highest levels will trickle down to affect the quality of instruction, the allocation of resources to local schools, or even the safety of their children. Even if the investigation is ultimately found to be separate from LAUSD’s daily operations, it projects a troubling image of poor management and a lack of oversight across the entire system.