Alpha School, a fast-growing network of expensive private schools, promises to use A. I. to teach kids twice as much as they would learn in a traditional classroom in half the time. The Trump administration has promoted Alpha as a model for “harnessing A.
I.” to prepare tomorrow’s work force. Business leaders are talking it up on social media and podcasts, and some have signed up their own children. For now, Alpha is a small, for-profit network, with lots of buzz and powerful backers, including the software billionaire Joe Liemandt.
Its private schools serve about 1,500 students across 50 campuses. But Alpha has huge ambitions to reach one billion students worldwide through its proprietary “A. I tutor.” The plan depends partly on extending its reach into public schools.
Already, the Alpha software platform has been quietly adopted by several school districts in Texas and South Carolina, according to a company document reviewed by The New York Times. About 2,600 public school students are now using the software. To reach more, Alpha needs to prove that its technology works for a broader range of children, beyond its core customer base of affluent, tech-enthusiast families.
But as Alpha markets itself to districts and states, a growing number of educators, and former Alpha parents and employees, are questioning the effectiveness of the network’s high-tech, low-book model. Most of the students enrolled at Alpha private schools, which charge as much as $75,000 per year, earn high test scores compared with peers in more typical schooling environments. Some parents say their children are thriving.
Still, many Alpha private school students are not meeting the targets at the center of the company’s marketing. About half of K-8 students enrolled in Alpha private schools last year did not meet the promise that they would learn math twice as fast, according to Alpha data reviewed by The New York Times. About a fifth of students, out of about 400 total, missed the goal in reading.
Less than half of students were able to double their rate of learning in both subjects, according to the data, which spans fall 2025 to early 2026. Alpha students are participating, essentially, in an experiment. At Alpha, there are no traditional teachers, few books and little paper.
All of the academic lessons are delivered via apps, and students can earn lavish prizes for completing their work. Adults are present, but only as motivational guides: Students stuck on a concept can do video calls with tutors abroad. Some children who struggle leave or have been pushed out, according to documents and several former private school parents and employees.
Pushing out students is not uncommon in private schools, but public education presents a new test for Alpha. Many of the public school students now using the company’s software are considered at risk academically. Their schools cannot remove them.
And public schools will not have access to the same perks Alpha offers its private school students as incentives to work hard.
Source: New York Times Top Stories · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing