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Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Texas did not approve Alpha as a charter school, but Texas Education Agency staff helped Alpha-connected companies discuss their AI learning software with public districts. Three districts—Houston ISD, Fort Davis and Aldine—reported plans to use it as supplemental instruction. The charter decision and the districts’ software decisions were separate processes, and TEA said it had no formal partnership with Alpha.
How did the software reach district classrooms?
After Texas rejected Alpha leaders’ charter application, Commissioner Mike Morath and other TEA staff continued discussions with people connected to the private school chain, according to an October 1, 2026 investigation by Lexi Churchill, ProPublica and The Texas Tribune. The reporting describes agency meetings and visits to Alpha campuses, discussions about Alpha’s academic-intervention work, and introductions between Alpha representatives and district leaders.
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A TEA staffer also discussed piloting supplemental “Tier 3” interventions and prepared a one-page explainer for districts. The reporting says at least 10 districts were approached about the program. That outreach created a route for districts to consider the software; it did not amount to a statewide order to adopt it.
Did Texas approve Alpha as a charter school?
No. In June 2025, the Texas State Board of Education voted 10–3 against Alpha leaders’ charter application, according to the 2026 reporting. Board members raised concerns about AI-led teaching and screen time and questioned the dramatic academic gains Alpha presented. Board member Keven Ellis said of the claimed gains, “I’m just a little skeptical of those types of gains.”
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The board’s vote concerned whether Alpha could open a charter school. Local districts’ decisions to test a software product were separate. The investigation also distinguishes those pilots from a possible “1882 partnership,” a formal arrangement involving operation of a campus. As of August 2026, TEA said it could find no documentation that Alpha or its affiliates had applied for or run an 1882 partnership.
Which districts reported using the software?
The October 2026 investigation identified three districts with reported pilot plans. Each described targeted, supplemental use rather than replacing regular classroom instruction with Alpha’s full school model.
| District | Reported pilot purpose or scale |
|---|---|
| Fort Davis | Planned reading and math intervention for students in kindergarten through grade 8. The district had about 800 students, according to the investigation. |
| Aldine | Planned math support for 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 did not provide further detail and sought to withhold the contract from disclosure. |
Other districts did not proceed. Ector County, Fort Bend, Irving, Pecos and Pflugerville confirmed they had been approached but declined. Ector County said its school day was “not currently structured to effectively implement or support the pilot.”
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Is the software replacing teachers or regular lessons?
Not in the three reported pilots: the districts described the software as an extra layer of support alongside regular instruction. That differs from Alpha’s full private-school model, in which software teaches core subjects during a claimed two-hour academic block and human “guides” focus on motivation and emotional support. The investigation does not describe Texas districts replacing their regular teaching model with that full approach.
Texas Gov. 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 should keep teachers central, limit unnecessary screen time and prove results for students.
What has been established about the pilots’ results?
The reporting documents how the pilots were arranged, not an independent evaluation of their effectiveness. It does not provide comparative results or an independently established effect size for Houston ISD, Fort Davis or Aldine.
The investigation reports that 21% of students passed at Texas Preparatory School, a charter associated with Alpha software, based on state test scores compiled by TEA. TEA gave that charter its third consecutive F rating. Those figures concern that school and its reported student cohort; they are not results from the three district pilots.
Alpha leaders have cited a self-published paper to support broader claims about academic gains. The investigation reports that experts were skeptical and that sufficient data to verify those claims were not publicly available. The available reporting therefore does not establish that the new pilots improve student outcomes.
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What remains unclear?
TEA said it had no formal partnership with Alpha and that districts decided independently whether to adopt the software. The reported communications nevertheless show agency staff facilitating discussions and connections. As of the October 1, 2026 investigation, the full extent of TEA’s role and the total number of districts using the product remained unclear. Pilot status and district participation may change after that reporting date.
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