Proposed AI-powered cyber charter school draws criticism as approval deadline nears

The Pennsylvania Department of Education has until Wednesday to approve an application for the state’s first AI-powered cyber charter school. Education advocates see it as a cash grab. 

For better or for worse, artificial intelligence (AI) is creeping more and more into everyday life, whether it is at home or in the workplace. Now, it has the potential to start teaching children across the commonwealth. 

The Pennsylvania Department of Education has until Jan. 29th to approve or reject an application for Unbound Academy, where students would receive two hours of instruction provided by AI software for subjects such as math and reading. 

Public education advocates have expressed concern over the proposal, which they see as a cash grab.

“What really concerned me was the economics around the school itself,” Carol Burris, Executive Director of the National Education Policy Center, said in an interview. “As I dug into public data on the different for profit organizations that would be supporting the school…all of these organizations are tied back to this one couple, MacKenzie and Andrew Price.”

Burris points out in a letter that four for-profit entities tasked with running the school’s day to day operations have ties with Unbound Academy’s founder, Andrew Price. 

According to the charter school’s application, “Unbound Academy will collaborate with 2hr Learning, Inc. to deliver its adaptive learning platform, while Trilogy Enterprises will manage financial services, and Crossover Markets, Inc. will assist with recruiting qualified virtual educators.”

Andrew Price co-founded 2Hr Learning with his wife MacJenzie and developed the school’s proprietary software. Price serves as the Chief Financial Officer for Trilogy Enterprises and Crossover Markets, which are both owned by Texas billionaire Joe Leimandt. 

Unbound Academy plans on paying 2Hr Learning $2.75 million in its first year and will shell out another $300,000 to Trilogy Enterprises for financial services. 

Pennsylvania already has 14 cyber charter schools — some of the worst performing cyber charter schools in the country — and Unbound Academy’s application has prompted Democratic lawmakers to call for a moratorium on new cyber charter schools. 

“Pennsylvanians already spend roughly $1 billion every year on tuition for our current cyber charter schools, making this one of the leading drivers of property tax increases,” State Sen. Lindsey Williams said in a recent cosponsor memo. 

Susan Spicka, the Executive Director of Education Voters of Pennsylvania, is doubtful that Unbound’s model can teach children after only two hours of teaching a day.

“The idea that you can have students basically doing worksheets that get fed to you based on an algorithm for two hours a day and that these students are going to be both interested in school and successful as they’re sitting at home by themselves is completely ludicrous.”