About that School Trump Referred to in the State of the Union Address…

Donald Trump never mentioned public schools in his State of the Union Address, though February 23-27 was designated to celebrate them. A good President would have tipped their hat to the 3.8 million teachers who take up the challenge of teaching most of America’s students in their public schools.

Instead, Trump, who has always appeared to hate public education and, with the help of wrestling magnate and billionaire Linda McMahon, is shutting down the U.S. Department of Education, is on board with AI in schools, and his AI profit-making company chums are on board as well. He showcased his wife’s Be Best initiative.

Melania Trump, like her husband, is promoting AI. She introduced a student from the Alpha School, a private school that advertises teaching kids academics 2 hours a day using AI without teachers.

These schools are the brainchild of Mackenzie Price, who has a degree in psychology. The New York Post said:

Price speaks the language of disruption, warning that traditional schools have “poisoned” young minds. Alpha staffers, she says, strive to instill a “growth mindset” – a hustle-culture phrase often used by tech bros – as they encourage kids to set their own goals and challenges.

Price focuses on learning efficiency. Her co-founder, Brian Holtz, has a degree in business administration. Joe Liemandt, who dropped out of Stanford, is the principal.

Dan Meyer, a math teacher who works at Amplify, wrote an essay about Alpha schools describing how they have some certified teachers, called guides, and he adds:

They haven’t replaced teachers with AI. They have replaced poor kids with rich kids.

That point is well made. But guides don’t usually act like traditional teachers. They’ve been called guides on the side or facilitators. Technology rules the classroom.

The no-teacher ploy is behind corporate school reform, despite suffering a setback during the pandemic (parents don’t like screens). But it’s still there, like it has been for years. It’s still the goal.

To prove my point, the 11-year-old Alpha School guest appeared on a variety of networks the following day to showcase the school experience. She appeared well-spoken (having given two TED Talks and having won a history competition with more medals than ever) and, on CNN, implied it’s cheaper to learn on screens than to pay for teachers.

I don’t want to argue with an eleven-year-old; she’s likely parroting, and she sounded like a bright student going places, but it’s infuriating to hear how wonderful AI is when there have been reports of wasted money on tech with little return on investment. Of course, AI is newer, but still.

Sasha Rogelberg from Fortune Magazine recently reported: The U.S. spent $30 billion to ditch textbooks for laptops and tablets: The result is the first generation less cognitively capable than their parents.

Let that sink in.

Scandinavian countries, such as Finland, known for their quality education and professional teachers, were leaning towards more technology, but stellar scores began eroding. Now they’re reducing their use of it, not entirely, but enough to focus on what helped students shine from the start, great teachers.

Australia is following suit and even China is working to reduce stress in students which includes a reduction in screen usage. Americans are going in the opposite direction.

In the beginning, many thought 2 hour teaching was a joke. But stop and think about education reform in the U.S. over the years. Kindergarten is the new first grade. High school is college. Go. Go. Go. Don’t forget the grit that promises to get you there. Alpha Schools are big on grit.

Price brags about high test scores, but wealthy public school scores are usually high too when schools have resources. I’d still argue that the majority of kids, even gifted students, benefit when they learn subjects through human interactions.

The Alpha School price tag is $65K, and they could be coming to a community near you.

If you can’t afford the Alpha School, but can’t wait to get in on the student push for AI, Price also founded Unbound Academy, a virtual charter school. Virtual charter schools are widespread across the country, and most perform poorly.

Audrey Watters, author of Teaching Machines: The History of Personalized Learning, writes here about the Alpha School:

…we know that virtual charter schools – “AI”-enhanced or not – are bad, bad news, so bad that even the Walton Family Foundation, which has regularly funded all sorts of truly terrible educational initiatives, has admitted as much. So bad that students would learn as much math by not attending school at all as they do by attending an online charter school.

With AI it’s hard to know what children miss. Students are to set their own goals and this isn’t always easy. They might show up to high school graduation with a hodgepodge of information, lacking necessary connections or critical information.

I recall the student who commented on a post I did about High Tech High. She returned to public school upon realizing that her education seemed disjointed, incomplete, and did not cover the information in a logical manner.

She said:

I took a chemistry class where we made a soap company and I did not even know what pH was. I never learned how to format an essay, how to study, how to balance chemical equations, how to factor, how to take notes, or even how to use a textbook.

AI might be a valuable tool, but there’s little evidence, especially at this point, that it can replace human teachers, or that a 2 hour stint with it will make students well-educated.

Simply put, while public schools and the teaching profession are not perfect, interactions are critical. It’s the tried and true method that has served America well for years.

We need well-prepared teachers, educated in premier accredited universities, and guidance for teachers on how to effectively use AI, not simply spending more for machines and AI for faster learning.

We also need a President who understands this, and gives a thumbs up to the nation’s teachers for all they’ve done and all they could be in the future with our support, teaching in America’s democratic public schools.