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Texas Education Agency staff helped people connected to Alpha School explore bringing Alpha’s AI learning software into public school districts, including by arranging discussions and introductions. Three districts—Houston ISD, Fort Davis and Aldine—reported plans to use the software as supplemental instruction. That path was separate from Alpha’s rejected charter application: the State Board of Education voted against the charter, while local districts decided whether to try the software. TEA said it had no formal partnership with Alpha. These facts are from an investigation published by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune on October 1, 2026.
How did the software reach district leaders?
According to the October 1 investigation by Lexi Churchill of ProPublica and The Texas Tribune, Commissioner Mike Morath first engaged with Alpha associates in September 2025. TEA staff then continued discussions with people connected to the company, visited Alpha campuses, explored its academic-intervention work and connected Alpha representatives with district leaders.
One TEA staffer discussed piloting supplemental “Tier 3” interventions and planned a one-page explainer for districts. The reporting describes agency involvement in opening conversations and explaining a possible pilot; it does not establish that TEA directed districts to adopt the software.
The investigation reported that at least 10 districts were approached. Five named districts—Ector County, Fort Bend, Irving, Pecos and Pflugerville—said they were approached but did not proceed. Ector County said its school day was not structured to support the pilot.
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Did Texas approve Alpha as a charter school?
No. In June 2025, the Texas State Board of Education voted 10–3 against the charter application from Alpha leaders, according to the reporting. Board members raised concerns about AI-led teaching and screen time and questioned the large academic gains Alpha presented. Board member Keven Ellis said, “I’m just a little skeptical of those types of gains.”
The charter vote and district software pilots were different decisions. The board considered whether to approve a charter school; the districts separately considered using software for supplemental instruction. The investigation also distinguished these software pilots from possible 1882 partnerships, which would involve a formal arrangement to run a campus. As of August 2026, TEA said it could find no documentation that Alpha or its affiliates had applied for or operated an 1882 partnership.
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Which Texas districts reported pilots, and what were they for?
| District | Reported plan | Scale or detail reported |
|---|---|---|
| Fort Davis | Planned reading and math intervention for students in kindergarten through grade 8. | The district had around 800 students, according to the investigation. Deputy Superintendent Michelle Hartmann called the pilot “an opportunity to provide an extra layer of intervention.” |
| Aldine | Planned math support for middle-school students. | Roughly 300 students across four middle-school campuses. |
| Houston ISD | Planned to evaluate the approach with students who had strong test scores. | The district said it was not paying Alpha, but gave no further detail and sought to withhold the contract from disclosure. |
The investigation describes these as reported plans or pilots, not a complete accounting of all districts using the software. TEA said local districts made adoption decisions and that the agency had no formal partnership with Alpha. The full extent of agency involvement and district participation was not clear in the October 1 reporting.
Does Alpha replace teachers or regular lessons in these pilots?
The three districts described supplemental uses, not adoption of Alpha’s full school model in place of regular instruction. Alpha’s full model, as described in the investigation, uses software to teach core subjects during a claimed two-hour academic block, while human “guides” focus on motivation and emotional support. The reported Texas pilots instead targeted additional intervention or support alongside district instruction.
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That distinction matters: a district’s limited software pilot should not be described as converting its classrooms to Alpha’s school model. Governor Greg Abbott’s press secretary, Andrew Mahaleris, said: “A great teacher in the classroom is the most important element of a quality education.” He added that any tool a district deploys must keep teachers central, limit unnecessary screen time and prove results for students.
What results have the pilots shown?
The October 1 investigation documents how the pilots were arranged, but does not provide an independent comparative evaluation of their effects. It reports no published effect size or outcome data establishing that the three district pilots improved learning.
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The investigation separately reported that 21% of students passed at Texas Preparatory School, a charter associated with Alpha software, based on state test scores compiled by TEA; TEA had given that charter its third consecutive F rating. That figure concerns the charter school, not the three new district pilots, and cannot establish how the pilot software performed in Houston ISD, Fort Davis or Aldine.
Alpha leaders cited a self-published paper to support broader claims about academic gains. The investigation reported that experts were skeptical and that enough data to verify those claims were not publicly available. Those promotional claims are not independent evidence of the results of the Texas district pilots.
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What remains uncertain?
- The complete scope of TEA’s role in connecting Alpha-associated representatives with districts.
- The total number of districts that ultimately used the software and the current status of each pilot.
- Whether the pilots produced measurable academic benefits compared with usual instruction.
The available reporting supports a clear distinction: state agency contacts helped bring Alpha-connected companies and districts into conversation, but local districts made the software decisions, and TEA denied a formal partnership. The October 1, 2026 investigation did not establish either a statewide adoption or the effectiveness of the pilots.
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