A new Chicago private school is betting parents will pay $55,000 a year for classrooms with no traditional teachers. Alpha Schools is opening a site this fall in the city's former GEMS World Academy building, promising that kids can knock out all of their core academics in two hours a day using an AI platform, then spend their afternoons on hands-on projects ranging from managing their own food trucks to taking part in TEDx-style talks, reports Block Club Chicago. Adults in the room will be "guides," not teachers, focused on motivation and life skills; academic help comes from the software and remote experts who can call in to provide extra help if needed. The Chicago Tribune notes that those guides aren't necessarily educators with the usual credentials or subject matter expertise.
Mashable reports that there's also an at-home program, called Alpha Anywhere, that serves up courses tailored to individual students, coaching, and other support. Alpha points to test scores from its students that fall in the top 1% to 2% nationally, while co-founder MacKenzie Price cites a survey of Alpha students around the nation that suggests the vast majority of students "love school." But education researchers and some Chicago officials are wary of a largely untested model that replaces teacher-led instruction, relies on intensive student data-tracking, and caters to families who can afford elite-level tuition. Politically, Alpha has caught the attention of the Trump administration and drawn scrutiny from public-school advocates, even as Price insists the network is "politically agnostic." More here.
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