Back to school: LAUSD superintendent on enrollment, ICE raids, funding

LAUSD students’ math and reading test scores have bounced back to pre-COVID pandemic levels, according to Superintendent Alberto Carvalho in his annual back-to-school address last month. But as the new school year begins next week, ICE raids and precarious federal funding are top of mind for the district. Carvalho tells KCRW that LAUSD returned to pre-COVID math and reading scores — something only 10% of California school districts have achieved — thanks largely to “very effective teaching, a high level of coherence.” He continues, “We have simplified and unified the curriculum standards, meaning what is taught and when it is taught, before and after school; tutoring programs; enrichment programs. And then we identified the historically lowest-performing schools, and there are about 12