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Policypublished

New Mexico Lets Districts Seek Approval to Leave K-2 AI Reading Tests

The 2026-27 opt-out route does not end statewide use of Amira. It shifts a disputed early-literacy system toward district-by-district decisions on assessment, student recordings and oversight.

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New Mexico Lets Districts Seek Approval to Leave K-2 AI Reading Tests
New Mexico Lets Districts Seek Approval to Leave K-2 AI Reading Tests
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New Mexico is giving school districts a way to leave Amira, but only if the state says yes. For the 2026–27 school year, districts can ask the Public Education Department to stop using the AI system for kindergarten through second-grade reading assessments. That is an off-ramp, not a statewide repeal: unless a request is approved, Amira remains the default. The program began as a required system for K-2 literacy checks, given three times each school year. Students struggling with reading can be tested monthly, and some schools also use Amira for first-grade dyslexia screening and weekly one-on-one tutoring. Altogether, New Mexico spends about two point seven million dollars a year on the software, training, data analysis, tutoring, and related support. The dispute is about whether the tool measures reading—or sometimes measures a child’s speech, comfort with a device, or the limits of speech recognition. Parents and educators have raised particular concerns for students with speech delays or disabilities. In a department training poll, only eight percent of surveyed educators said they had no major concerns. There are data safeguards: recordings from the prior school year were deleted, and future recordings are scheduled for monthly deletion unless a district asks otherwise. Amira CEO Mark Angel says the company will not sell New Mexico student data or use those recordings to build products for other customers. The immediate test is how many districts seek approval for 2026–27—and whether the state responds with broader standards for AI procurement, privacy, and evaluation.

Story brief

3 key points

New Mexico is adding a permission-based escape hatch to a $2.7 million-a-year AI literacy program, but districts must persuade the Public Education Department before dropping Amira’s K-2 assessments in 2026-27. The platform currently runs three required reading checks annually, plus monthly testing for struggling readers and, in some schools, dyslexia screening and tutoring. The decision follows concerns that speech...

  1. 01

    Districts cannot opt out unilaterally; department approval is required, so Amira remains the default unless the state grants a request.

  2. 02

    Recordings from the prior school year were deleted; future recordings will be deleted monthly unless a district requests otherwise.

  3. 03

    CEO Mark Angel says Amira will not sell New Mexico student data or use recordings to build products for other customers.

New Mexico school districts can seek state approval to opt out of Amira for the 2026-27 school year, creating an off-ramp from the AI literacy system required for kindergarten through second-grade assessments starting in 2025-26.

The change is limited: a district must receive approval from the New Mexico Public Education Department to leave the program. It does not automatically remove Amira from every classroom.

What the system covers

Required K-2 assessments occur three times a school year. Students identified as having below-adequate reading skills receive monthly assessments. Some New Mexico schools also use Amira for first-grade dyslexia screenings and weekly individual literacy tutoring.

New Mexico spends $2.7 million annually on Amira software, professional development, data analysis, tutoring and related support programs. The approval option therefore applies to a program that reaches beyond a single assessment session.

Recordings and oversight

Under an agreement between Amira and the department, recordings from the prior school year were deleted. Future recordings are to be deleted monthly unless a district requests otherwise. Amira CEO Mark Angel said the company would not sell New Mexico student data or use recordings from New Mexico students to build products for other customers.

Gaps identified by the legislative study committee

  • No statewide procurement standards for AI tools.
  • No student-data privacy requirements specific to AI.
  • No formal evaluation process for AI education tools.

The district decision

Parents and educators have reported that Amira sometimes appeared to measure speech patterns, device comfort or speech-recognition problems rather than reading ability. They said the issue was especially pronounced for students with speech delays or disabilities.

In an education-department training poll, only 8 percent of surveyed teachers and administrators said they had no major concerns about Amira. The next move is district-level: seek approval to opt out or continue using the platform for K-2 assessments.

Sources

  1. reason.comInvasion of the robot teachers

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