LAUSD replaces Carvalho after he disgracefully resigned amid school systems looming financial crisis and education shortcomings

A close ally of Mayor Karen Bass is taking over the nation’s second-largest school district just as it barrels toward a fiscal reckoning.Andres Chait was unanimously appointed superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District on Wednesday, days after Alberto Carvalho abruptly resigned amid an ongoing FBI corruption investigation.“It is the honor of a lifetime to serve as Superintendent of Los Angeles Unified,” Chait, who has more than three decades of service to LAUSD, said.“This District has shaped my life and career.”The promotion places a longtime district insider at the helm of a school system facing a nearly $2 billion gap between spending and projected revenue, looming layoffs and steadily declining enrollment.The rapid elevation of Chait also comes after he emerged as a key partner of Bass during high-stakes labor negotiations that narrowly avoided a districtwide strike and resulted in major compensation increases that critics argue the district cannot afford.LAUSD approved a massive $20.6 billion spending plan this week despite projecting just $18.6 billion in revenue.District officials plan to bridge the shortfall by drawing down reserves, even as they prepare for the layoffs of several hundred workers with due-process protections and potentially another 1,000 employees without job protections.Officials also project thousands more layoffs over the next three years.The district’s financial pressures have been fueled by rising labor costs, increasing healthcare expenses, inflation, the expiration of federal COVID-relief funds and years of declining enrollment.LAUSD now serves roughly 390,000 students in transitional kindergarten through 12th grade, about half the size it was in the early 2000s, the Los Angeles Times reported.Chait played a big role in labor talks that came within hours of triggering a three-union strike that would have shut down schools across Los Angeles.Following the marathon negotiations, Bass publicly praised district...