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HARRISBURG, PA (Jan. 29, 2025) — PSEA President Aaron Chapin today commended Gov. Josh Shapiro’s Department of Education for denying a cyber charter school application that would have replaced human teachers with AI to provide direct instruction to students.

In its cyber charter application, Unbound Academic Institute proposed using an AI program developed by contractor 2 Hour Learning to provide students with only two hours of instruction daily on core subjects such as math and reading. The rejected application proposed using a limited number of human employees, known as “guides,” to provide additional support but not direct instruction.

“Pennsylvania’s nearly three-decade-old charter school law never envisioned a cyber school where human teachers were replaced with an AI program,” Chapin said. “There is no way that two hours of AI-guided learning in core subjects could replace direct instruction from a certified teacher or meet state academic standards.

“We commend the Department of Education for standing up for Pennsylvania students who deserve a quality education that meets Pennsylvania’s academic standards,” Chapin added.

“AI can help teachers, but it can never replace a teacher guiding a student’s learning in a classroom. And that’s why Pennsylvania’s students are better off because the Department of Education rejected this cyber charter school application today.”

Chapin is a Stroudsburg Area middle school teacher and president of PSEA. An affiliate of the National Education Association, PSEA represents about 177,000 active and retired educators and school employees, aspiring educators, higher education staff, and health care workers in Pennsylvania.