Springfield public school to pilot AI curriculum as teachers union objects
Kiley Prep in Springfield, Massachusetts will pilot an Alpha School-style AI curriculum in one 25-student classroom from late September 2026.
Photo by Yan Krukau on Pexels
Kiley Prep, a public middle school in Springfield, Massachusetts, will pilot an AI curriculum public school program adapted from the for-profit Alpha School model starting in late September 2026, New England Public Media (NEPM) reported on September 3. The pilot covers a single 6th-grade classroom of 25 students and was designed by the Springfield Empowerment Zone Partnership (SEZP), the semi-autonomous group of eight public schools that includes Kiley Prep. The district’s teachers union, the Springfield Education Association (SEA), has filed a cease-and-desist letter and is pushing to halt the rollout.
What the pilot involves
Under the plan, students in the pilot classroom will spend about two hours a day on individualized, AI-driven coursework, with the rest of the school day devoted to project-based workshops, according to SEZP co-executive director Matthew Brunell. Unlike Alpha School’s private campuses, which use non-licensed staff called “guides” instead of teachers, the Kiley Prep classroom will be run by a licensed, veteran Springfield teacher who can work with students individually and lead whole-class discussion during the AI-instruction block. There is no cost to the district during the pilot; Alpha School is providing technical assistance rather than operating a school of its own, as it does at other locations where private tuition starts at $40,000 a year.
Brunell said the pilot responds to a specific proficiency gap at the school: 90% of Kiley Prep’s incoming 6th graders are not proficient in reading, entering with an average reading level of grade 3, and 88% are not proficient in mathematics. SEZP held two open houses for families to opt in or out; one family opted out after being briefed on the program.
Union pushback and a possible state moratorium
SEA president Riley Hernandez said the union learned of the AI model in early August 2026, after submitting a records request to SEZP following a tip that Alpha School was working with Kiley Prep. The union responded with a cease-and-desist letter aimed at pausing the pilot “until we fully understand what this partnership will look like,” Hernandez said. The SEA objects specifically to Alpha School’s stated goal of using AI to replace teachers with “guides,” which Hernandez said “degrades the profession” and “disrupts the very important human relationship between teacher and student.”
The Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA), the state’s largest teachers union, said it will likely call on state education officials to impose a moratorium on adaptive AI curricula in public schools while broader guardrails are developed. MTA spokesperson Kristin Campbell said the pilot arrives as “private corporations that are looking to make a profit in the public sector” push adaptive AI into classrooms even as evidence mounts on the effects of screen time on student outcomes.
Records obtained by the SEA through a public-records request show that Massachusetts Secretary of Education Stephen Zrike told SEZP in a June 10, 2026 email that he “recommended that we seriously explore bringing Alpha to SEZP.” In a statement to NEPM, Zrike said the state Executive Office of Education “regularly connects districts to partners and programs that might be helpful for teachers and students,” and that “schools and districts decide for themselves whether these partners fit their local priorities.”
| Detail | Figure |
|---|---|
| Pilot classroom size | 25 students, one 6th-grade section |
| Kiley Prep incoming 6th graders not proficient in reading | 90% (average grade 3 reading level) |
| Kiley Prep incoming 6th graders not proficient in math | 88% |
| Daily AI-instruction time | About 2 hours per day |
| Alpha School private-campus tuition | Starting at $40,000 per year |
| District cost during pilot | $0 |
| Families that opted out after briefing | 1 |
| Possible expansion | 2027-28 school year, contingent on evaluation |
Source: New England Public Media, “AI curriculum model to pilot in Springfield school, not without teacher pushback,” September 3, 2026.
Part of a wider standoff over AI in classrooms
The Kiley Prep pilot lands amid a broader national debate over generative AI in K-12 schools. The advocacy group Fairplay is calling for a five-year pause on generative-AI products in preK-12 schools nationwide to give school communities time to evaluate the technology’s effects. New York City is moving the opposite direction on age limits: the Chalkbeat New York and WNYC reported in early September 2026 that the city’s public school system, under the Mamdani administration, plans to ban student-facing AI tools for teaching students below 9th grade. Alpha School itself is expanding in the region, having opened two campuses in the Boston area for the 2026-27 school year at private-school tuition rates, making Kiley Prep one of the company’s first public-school entry points in Massachusetts.
Background
The Springfield Empowerment Zone Partnership was established more than a decade ago as a novel management structure covering eight Springfield public schools, created with the state to improve historically low graduation and proficiency rates. Alpha School, founded as a private venture, has built elementary, middle and high school campuses across the United States over the past decade, with at least one subsidized public-school partnership previously operating in Brownsville, Texas. SEZP says an evaluation of the Kiley Prep pilot, covering interim assessments, student engagement and teacher feedback, will determine whether the program expands to additional classrooms and potentially a second school in the 2027-28 year, or is discontinued.
Sources: New England Public Media; WBUR; Fairplay
Featured image: photo by Yan Krukau on Pexels (free Pexels license).
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I specialize in sustainability education, curriculum co-creation, and early-stage project strategy. At WINSS, I craft articles on sustainability, transformative AI, and related topics. When I’m not writing, you’ll find me chasing the perfect sushi roll, exploring cities around the globe, or unwinding with my dog Puffy — the world’s most loyal sidekick.
