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Tag: charter

  • New frontier of AI-powered ‘teacher-less’ charter schools get mixed reviews from state officials

    New frontier of AI-powered ‘teacher-less’ charter schools get mixed reviews from state officials

    Artificial intelligence may be the new frontier for childhood schooling, but the idea of teacherless classrooms has received mixed reviews from state education officials.

    Unbound Academy, a Texas-based institution billing itself as the nation’s first virtual, tuition-free charter school for grades 4 through 8, reportedly employs AI to teach students in a way that can be geared toward the individual student without “frustration[s]” sometimes present in traditional schooling.

    While such schools have seen success in being approved to educate students in Arizona, Unbound was formally rejected by the Pennsylvania Department of Education in a letter obtained by Fox News Digital.

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    In a letter to an Unbound Academy official with a Lancaster office address, Secretary Angela Fitterer said her office has found “deficiencies” in all five criteria needed for approval to teach Keystone State students.

    Pennsylvania’s Charter School law denotes a school must demonstrate sustainable support for the cyber charter school plan from teachers, parents and students. It must also exhibit the capacity to provide “comprehensive learning experiences,” enable students to meet academic standards, and abide by Section 1747(a) of the law, which pertains to governance, policy, facility and assessment.

    “Artificial intelligence tools present unique opportunities in the classroom that educators across Pennsylvania are already exploring how to effectively, ethically and safely implement,” a spokeswoman for Fitterer told Fox News Digital.

    “However, the AI instructional model being proposed by this school is untested and fails to delineate how artificial intelligence tools would be used to ensure that the education provided aligns with PA state standards,” she said.

    In its application, Unbound cited its work with “2HR Learning” an “innovated educational approach that combines AI technology, personalized learning paths, and a focus on life skills development to revolutionize the learning experience,” according to the Scranton Times-Tribune.

    However, Unbound saw success in Arizona, which approved an academy for the 2025-26 school year, while being rejected in three states besides Pennsylvania, according to the Arizona Republic.

    Two hours are set aside for core instruction, and the rest of the day is geared toward students pursuing “personal interests” and life skills workshops.

    Unbound Academy co-founder MacKenzie Price told the paper the Grand Canyon State was appealing because of its welcoming of school choice tenets.

    Another state official on the frontier of educational evolution is Oklahoma Superintendent of Education Ryan Walters.

    SCOTUS TO CONSIDER EFFORT TO ESTABLISH NATION’S FIRST PUBLICLY-FUNDED RELIGIOUS CHARTER SCHOOL

    Words reading “Artificial intelligence AI,” miniature of robot and toy hand are pictured in this illustration taken on Dec. 14, 2023. (REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo)

    In recent months, Walters has spearheaded efforts to return the Bible to schools, root out foreign influence in curriculum, and AMIRA – a new literacy initiative, among other endeavors. His state is also set to appear before the Supreme Court this term in regard to interest in allowing a Catholic charter school to receive state funding.

    Walters said he has not yet seen an application for Unbound or any other AI-powered charter school, but believes that if parents desire the option in the Sooner State, he will consider it.

    “You have to show parental support that they’re asking for it,” he said.

    “You also have to be very transparent. Where’s the technology based out of? Who is developing it? We do not want any situation where you’ve got a CCP or [similar] country, involved there with the technology. . . . You need to be very upfront. Where is the technology developed? What is the curriculum look like?” 

    With Oklahoma’s major agricultural sector, many schoolchildren work hours on their family farms when they’re not in class. Walters said virtual learning has helped Oklahoma families in the near-term, and suggested an AI school would have a similar setup.

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    He said his state is always open to the next frontier of childhood education.

    “Catholics have some of the most successful schools in our state in the country. They brought us a model that said we’d like to try out so many of the things that have worked for us in our private schools at a charter school. We can make it available for more kids,” he said.

    “We appreciate the Catholic Church for putting the application before us [and] the radical atheists and teachers union folks – they’re dead wrong on this.”

    Walters said – just as Harrisburg deemed the AI-powered charter school did not meet its qualifications – Oklahoma believes the new Catholic charter school met its criteria.

    “This is the next frontier of school choice – we want more schools. We want more charter schools.”

    Fox News Digital reached out to Unbound Academy for comment and further information on its other state applications.

    Charles Creitz is a reporter for Fox News Digital. 

    He joined Fox News in 2013 as a writer and production assistant. 

    Charles covers media, politics and culture for Fox News Digital.

    Charles is a Pennsylvania native and graduated from Temple University with a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism. Story tips can be sent to [email protected].

  • Supreme Court to consider an effort to establish the nation’s first publicly funded religious charter school

    Supreme Court to consider an effort to establish the nation’s first publicly funded religious charter school

    The Supreme Court will weigh an effort to establish the nation’s first religious charter school with implications for school choice and religious practices. 

    The court agreed Friday to hear two cases on the matter, which will be argued together — Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board v. Drummond and St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School v. Drummond. 

    In 2023, the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board voted to approve an application by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and the Diocese of Tulsa for a K-12 online school, the St. Isidore of Seville Virtual Charter School.

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    Oklahoma parents, faith leaders and an education group sought to block the school after the approval. 

    In a 7-1 decision, the Oklahoma Supreme Court found a taxpayer-funded religious charter school would violate the First Amendment’s provision on “establishment of religion” and the state constitution.

    The Supreme Court will weigh an effort to establish the nation’s first religious charter school. (Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images)

    “Under Oklahoma law, a charter school is a public school,” Justice James Winchester wrote in the court’s majority opinion. “As such, a charter school must be nonsectarian.

    “However, St. Isidore will evangelize the Catholic school curriculum while sponsored by the state.”

    Alliance Defending Freedom Chief Counsel Jim Campbell told Fox News Digital the case “is fundamentally about religious discrimination and school choice.”

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    “The Supreme Court has been clear in three cases over the last eight years that you can’t create a public program like that and then exclude religious organizations,” Campbell said. “So, we’re going to be arguing before the court that the state of Oklahoma should be allowed to open up the program to religious organizations.”

    Gentner Drummond

    Oklahoma Republican Attorney General Gentner Drummond originally challenged the school’s approval. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

    Campbell says the decision would give parents, families and the state “more educational options.” 

    Oklahoma Republican Attorney General Gentner Drummond, who originally challenged the school’s approval, has previously said the school’s establishment is unconstitutional. His spokesperson told Fox News Digital in a statement the attorney general “looks forward to presenting our arguments before the high court.”

    “I will continue to vigorously defend the religious liberty of all 4 million Oklahomans,” Drummond said in a statement released in October. “This unconstitutional scheme to create the nation’s first state-sponsored religious charter school will open the floodgates and force taxpayers to fund all manner of religious indoctrination, including radical Islam or even the Church of Satan. My fellow Oklahomans can rest assured that I will always fight to protect their God-given rights and uphold the law.”

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    The Oklahoma case is one of several religious institution cases that have been filed in the Supreme Court. 

    In 2017, the high court ruled in favor of a Missouri church that sued the state after being denied taxpayer funds for a playground project as a result of a provision that prohibits state funding for religious entities. 

    Likewise, in 2020, the Supreme Court struck down a ban on taxpayer funding for religious schools in a 5-4 decision that backed a Montana tax-credit scholarship program. Most recently, in 2022, the Supreme Court ruled that a Maine tuition assistance program violated the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause for excluding religious schools from eligibility.

    Trump and Amy Coney Barrett

    Justice Amy Coney Barrett recused herself from the case, although an explanation was not given. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

    Campbell said given the court’s previous considerations of cases involving religious educational institutions, he is “hopeful that the Supreme Court will recognize that the same principle applies here.”

    “You can’t create a charter school program that allows private organizations to participate but tell the religious groups that they can’t be included,” Campbell said. “So, we’re hopeful that the Supreme Court will make it clear that people of faith deserve to be a part of the charter school program as well.”

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    Justice Amy Coney Barrett recused herself from the case, although an explanation was not given. The Supreme Court is expected to hear oral arguments in April. 

    School choice has become a hot-button issue, particularly after the 2024 election cycle. President Donald Trump recently signed two executive orders on education, one to remove federal funding from K-12 schools that teach critical race theory and another to support school choice. 

    Fox News Digital’s Ronn Blitzer and the Associated Press contributed to this report. 

    Haley Chi-Sing is a Writer for Fox News Digital. You can reach her at @haleychising on X.