A little-known effort to bring an artificial intelligence tool into Texas public schools began about a year ago, with the help of the state’s top education official, Mike Morath.
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effort → know → official
In September 2025, Morath responded to an email from associates of a private school chain called Alpha School who wanted to talk about using their AI program to educate kids in Texas classrooms.
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who → respond → classrooms
“I’d love to schedule a follow-up discussion,” Morath replied.
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Morath → love → discussion
Just three months earlier, he had supported Alpha leaders’ bid to open a charter school in Texas that would use the same technology.
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that → support → technology
Then the Texas State Board of Education, which has the final say on such charter decisions, voted it down 10 to 3.
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which → have → it
Board members cited concerns about the company’s use of AI to teach and students’ screen time, as well as lingering questions about the drastic student test improvements Alpha leaders presented.
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leaders → cite → improvements
But Morath and his agency leaders did not need the board’s approval to help get Alpha’s AI model into public schools.
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Morath → need → schools
Over the last year, Morath and his staff at the Texas Education Agency exchanged a flurry of emails with leaders of companies connected to Alpha about possible partnerships, visited their campuses several times, helped with a one-page explainer about the program to share with school districts and connected them with district leaders, according to communications obtained by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune through public information requests.
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Morath → exchange → requests
One email revealed that Morath offered to personally introduce an Alpha leader to the superintendent he appointed to lead the yearslong state takeover of Houston Independent School District, the largest in the state.
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he → reveal → state
“I’d also like to set up another site visit to visit both your Austin secondary and primary with my team,” wrote Morath.
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Morath → like → team
“The Superintendent of H.I.S.D. would also like to do a site visit, so l’ll connect y’all separately.
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Superintendent → like → y’
And hopefully we can schedule them to happen on the same day.
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we → schedule → day
The emails show that state education officials and Alpha affiliates approached at least 10 school districts about the AI program.
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officials → show → program
After the coordination, at least three of those districts — Houston; Fort Davis, in West Texas; and Aldine, near Houston — launched pilot programs incorporating the AI tool.
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three → launch → tool
The full extent of Morath and his agency’s involvement, as well as the number of public school districts using the AI program, remains unclear.
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extent → use → program
The TEA has not responded to questions about its efforts for months, initially failed to provide some of Morath’s emails in response to public information requests and continues fighting the release of additional communications.
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TEA → respond → communications
The TEA sent a written statement that said “there is no formal partnership between TEA and Alpha Schools.”
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that → send → TEA
But the agency continued that it “is always interested in promising ways to improve student outcomes in math and reading.”
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it → continue → math
The statement said TEA officials connected district leaders who were interested in Alpha’s program but left the decision up to them on whether to use it.
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who → say → it
Aldine and Fort Davis leaders told the newsrooms it was not unusual for the state agency to recommend potential partnerships and expressed excitement about the pilot.
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agency → tell → pilot
All three districts with pilot programs said they will use the AI software for supplemental learning rather than fully implementing the Alpha School model of using it to teach all students basic subjects in two hours a day while the human teachers, which Alpha calls guides, focus on motivation and emotional support.
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Alpha → say → motivation
Some education experts and State Board of Education members who voted against Alpha leaders’ attempt to open a charter school last year raised concerns with the state’s efforts to use the AI-led platform given its recent track record.
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who → vote → record
ProPublica and the Tribune recently reported that Texas was among at least nine states that rejected Alpha leaders’ applications to open publicly funded charter schools that would use its AI-driven learning tool, according to an Instagram post from the company’s co-founder.
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that → report → founder
The newsrooms also found that students performed significantly worse on state-mandated exams than Alpha leaders predicted at the one charter school they got approved, in Arizona, and at an existing school in Texas where students used the AI program last year.
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students → find → program
Morath’s agency knew about results in at least one of those charters, Texas Preparatory School in Austin.
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agency → know → Austin
Last year, state test scores compiled by his agency showed just 21% of students passed.
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% → compile → students
The TEA then gave the charter its third consecutive F rating, mostly based on those scores.
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TEA → give → scores
David DeMatthews, an education professor at the University of Texas at Austin, said it was “disheartening” and “painful” to learn that the TEA was promoting the product when the company has not yet publicly shown its success in public or charter schools, where there are likely to be more students who have learning barriers or struggle academically.
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who → say → barriers
“That raises questions about whether TEA is serving its public interest and is being transparent and accountable to us,” DeMatthews said.
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DeMatthews → raise → us
“It’d be one thing if they were approved as a charter and they did have a track record and they could show evidence.
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they → approve → evidence
We don’t have any of those sorts of things.”
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We → have → things
The platform’s expansion into traditional public schools comes as government officials across the country, including in Texas, have taken an increasingly skeptical view of AI use in schools.
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officials → come → schools
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani recently banned generative AI for elementary and middle school students in the nation’s largest school district.
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Mamdani → ban → district
Leaders in Los Angeles implemented a similar restriction.
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Leaders → implement → restriction
In August, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott proposed further limiting screen time in public schools.
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Abbott → propose → schools
Abbott, who has received over $1.5 million in political donations from Alpha co-founder MacKenzie Price, did not agree to an interview or directly answer whether he supports the AI platform in Texas schools.
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he → receive → schools
“A great teacher in the classroom is the most important element of a quality education,” Andrew Mahaleris, Abbott’s press secretary, wrote in a statement to the newsrooms.
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Mahaleris → write → newsrooms
“Any tool a district deploys must keep teachers at the center of the classroom, limit unnecessary screen time, and prove results for students.”
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district → deploy → students
Abbott’s Democratic opponent in the November governor’s race, Gina Hinojosa, recently had a press conference opposing the use of Alpha’s AI program in Houston ISD.
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opponent → have → ISD
That came after she’d already made a campaign promise to fire Morath if she is elected.
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she → come → Morath
…and 48 more, not listed.
The Aporia
