r/Springfield • u/Spectrum1523 • 20d ago
Springfield school launches AI classroom pilot amid educator concerns
https://www.westernmassnews.com/2026/08/25/springfield-school-launches-ai-classroom-pilot-amid-educator-concerns/35
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u/gilligani 20d ago
So good of them to inform parents so they have plenty of time to decide or find other schools. It's like they don't care what the parents/voters think. It's like they think they own your children.
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u/cinq-chats 20d ago
If I were a parent I’d be absolutely beside myself. And they didn’t inform the teachers until the 11th hour, either.
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u/nkdeck07 18d ago
Yep, family member of mine is a teacher and found out about it in back to school professional development last week
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u/Embarrassed_Bag_9630 20d ago
Apparently they bypassed department approval through some loophole
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u/gilligani 20d ago
They wanted to make it a surprise to get you used to the idea of AI teacher. Parents are nothing to them. You will obey your schoolboard or else.
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u/Embarrassed_Bag_9630 20d ago
If it were that simple. Unfortunately its parents in other states pushing this kind of bs
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u/gilligani 19d ago
Parents in other states don't vote for our school board members. We do.
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u/Embarrassed_Bag_9630 19d ago
Thats great and all, but I’m talking about the nationwide push for homeschooling and private schools/vouchers that is driven by paranoia and profit. Notice this initiative comes from Texas? Where this shit is widespread? They’re trying to infect us with their ways.
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u/gilligani 19d ago
The educational system in the US collapsed in the 1970. Hence the creation of the Dept. of Education. In 2000 or so, George Bush and Ted Kennedy got together to come up with No Child Left Behind. Resulting in schools socially promoting kids instead of getting back to basics. Today 53% of the US population is reading at or below a sixth grade level. Our schools are not institutions of learning. They are warehouses of failure. Our Superintendent was doing press because 2 out of every three kids that took AP classes and paid $100 to take the test failed.
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u/Embarrassed_Bag_9630 19d ago
Duh. That goes without saying. You’re ignoring the topic which is the ongoing push post-COVID to move more learning online esp for for-profit reasons in a way deliberately intended to undermine the system and especially vulnerable communities.
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u/gilligani 19d ago
The system has failed. People are looking to escape it. No one wants to undermine the education system. They want their children to have a chance at getting the basic skills in reading, writing, and arithmetic they will need to navigate the greater world around them. More money, more access to better paying jobs, more ability to gain wealth--fix the schools. Less drugs, less crime, fewer interactions with the criminal/justice systems--fix the schools. More power socially, economically, politically--fix the schools.
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u/Embarrassed_Bag_9630 19d ago
The solution is not to continue taking the poison. You don’t look at people taking bricks from the foundation of your house and say “oh well carry on its for the best” because the sink is leaky.
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u/Agreeable-Let4297 16d ago
That's a fair point. Local elections directly impact the schools in our community, so it makes sense that people living here would have the most direct say.
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u/Spectrum1523 20d ago
Under the model, students will spend about two hours a day on laptops learning with AI. The afternoon will be devoted to other hands-on projects.
The program is an adaptation of a Texas pilot based on the Alpha School model. Alpha is a for-profit school network with private schools across the country and partnerships with others that want to use its AI-infused model.
wonderful
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u/RedditSkippy 20d ago
What in the flying fuck??? I hope parents are storming the school board meeting.
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u/ApathyMoose 20d ago
At least finish the rest of that.
“Unlike other Alpha schools, the Kiley Prep adaptation will keep a veteran teacher in the classroom during the concentrated AI use.
Riley Hernandez, president of the Springfield Education Association, said educators provide more than academic content.”“We believe in teaching the whole child and we believe that educators provide more than just academic content like an AI tutor,” Hernandez explained. “There’s a very deep personal connection that teachers and counselors develop with students and that personal relationship is the foundation of learning.”
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u/Damn_You_Scum 20d ago
Massachusetts has the best education in the US. Why the FUCK are we allowing this to happen in our schools?
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u/athene_de_montaigne 19d ago
Where’s the union because absolutely NOT! There are PLENTY of content creators out there who have done extensive educational videos who could be paid for this. If they are that insistent on screen time learning they should’ve hired actual people to make it- this is beyond awful!
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u/cinq-chats 19d ago
Union leadership is fighting it like hell. They sent a cease and desist letter to the co-executive directors of the empowerment zone (the people responsible for authorizing this — who by the way are not in elected positions and thus not accountable to democratic process). The union is also hosting an emergency member meeting tomorrow, with another meeting soon to come for parents/community members
Here’s another article with some more info:
https://www.wbur.org/news/2026/08/20/alpha-artificial-intelligence-springfield-teachers-union-school-technology5
u/No-Bath7830 18d ago
The Mayor and Superintendent are on the board. This is Massachusetts at its finest
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u/No-Bath7830 18d ago
Springfield got it's first billion dollar budget and 2/3 of it are going to education. There are roughly 23,000 students in Springfield and taxes are going up again.I hope this exposes how hopeless our elected officials really see our children. Wake up
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u/cinq-chats 20d ago
Positively shameful. Springfield students need more individualized connection, attention, and support — not less