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Pennsylvania’s Department of Education issued a scathing denial on Wednesday for a controversial cyber charter school built around artificial intelligence.
The department determined the application for Unbound Academy “provided no evidence of sustainable support” for the school and said it “lacks the capability, in terms of both support and planning, to provide comprehensive learning experiences to students” and “fails to substantiate that it will serve as a model for other public schools,” among other concerns.
“There is no compelling evidence that Unbound Academic’s proposed programs will enable students to meet academic standards,” the denial reads. The application “failed to provide even a list of courses that would be offered to students.”
The founders behind Unbound Academy promised the school would educate students twice as fast by giving them two hours of individually crafted lesson plans and academic work designed by AI tutoring software. In their model, teachers would shift from their traditional roles to instead become guides tasked with motivating and supporting students rather than doing the instructional work of teaching.
Founder MacKenzie Price told Chalkbeat she believes the model will revolutionize education.
Pennsylvania’s Interim Acting Secretary of Education Angela Fitterer determined this week that Unbound’s promises were largely without sufficient proof and did not provide adequate plans to serve students with disabilities or other vulnerable student populations.
“The artificial intelligence instructional model being proposed by this school is untested and fails to demonstrate how the tools, methods, and providers would ensure alignment to Pennsylvania academic standards,” the denial letter reads.
The denial letter further assails Unbound Academy’s application as failing to “reflect an understanding of cyber charter school finances.”
The state also said the school demonstrated little interest from Pennsylvania families and submitted no petitions or letters of support from parents, students, or educators.
Pennsylvania teachers’ unions celebrated the denial on Wednesday.
“There is no way that two hours of AI-guided learning in core subjects could replace direct instruction from a certified teacher or meet state academic standards,” Pennsylvania State Education Association President Aaron Chapin said in a statement.
A spokesperson for Price, Unbound Academy, and its affiliated private schools did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.
Unbound can appeal the state’s decision within 30 days.
Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.
