It’s not clear to me that Unbound Academy is a charter school. As near as I can tell, it is a private school charging in the neighborhood of $40,000 per year in tuition. As such, it is exempt from regulations that govern public schools operating from public funding. I’m going to contact the school to verify this information
Thanks, Andy. You saved me a phone call or two. Indeed it was approved 4-3 by the Charter Board. In the application the intention of Alpha to capitalize on public funds is explicit: “The
model aims to foster a love for learning, improve academic outcomes, and prepare students for
success in the rapidly changing modern world. Unbound Academy is proud to partner1 with 2hr
Learning, Inc. to bring these capabilities, previously only available at high price point private
schools, to the public charter student in Arizona.”
Bill and Melinda Gates are in the background. Elon Musk is referred to as inspiration. This like the voucher movement looks like another way for private schools serving affluent populations to get public money and thereby weaken public schools. How cynical is that, Andy? Florida, Arizona, Texas—moral basket cases.
Thanks, Terry - it definitely seems an attempt to get public funds to pay for an unproven approach (and with limited accountability) - I suspect we'll see much more of this in the coming years. Thanks for reading!
Hi,Terry. Unbound was approved to operate a charter school in Arizona by that state’s charter school board… as noted in the news piece announcing the school. Unbound is affiliated with Alpha Schools… a network which offers both private and charter schools.
It’s not clear to me that Unbound Academy is a charter school. As near as I can tell, it is a private school charging in the neighborhood of $40,000 per year in tuition. As such, it is exempt from regulations that govern public schools operating from public funding. I’m going to contact the school to verify this information
Thanks, Andy. You saved me a phone call or two. Indeed it was approved 4-3 by the Charter Board. In the application the intention of Alpha to capitalize on public funds is explicit: “The
model aims to foster a love for learning, improve academic outcomes, and prepare students for
success in the rapidly changing modern world. Unbound Academy is proud to partner1 with 2hr
Learning, Inc. to bring these capabilities, previously only available at high price point private
schools, to the public charter student in Arizona.”
Bill and Melinda Gates are in the background. Elon Musk is referred to as inspiration. This like the voucher movement looks like another way for private schools serving affluent populations to get public money and thereby weaken public schools. How cynical is that, Andy? Florida, Arizona, Texas—moral basket cases.
Thank you for bringing this to my attention.
Thanks, Terry - it definitely seems an attempt to get public funds to pay for an unproven approach (and with limited accountability) - I suspect we'll see much more of this in the coming years. Thanks for reading!
God I hope not. There’s evidence that only the top 5% of learners profit from Khan Academy, affluent students primarily. What a horrible situation
Hi,Terry. Unbound was approved to operate a charter school in Arizona by that state’s charter school board… as noted in the news piece announcing the school. Unbound is affiliated with Alpha Schools… a network which offers both private and charter schools.
Here’s a related piece: https://gizmodo.com/arizona-schools-curriculum-will-be-taught-by-ai-no-teachers-2000540905