Baltimore County schools phase out AI reading program Amira

Baltimore County Public Schools will stop requiring students in kindergarten to third grade to use Amira, an AI reading program, and will drop it entirely next school year, The Baltimore Banner reports. Schools can still use it for struggling students this year, and families can use it at home.

An email to parents said the decision was "based on school administrator, staff, and parent/caregiver feedback, and to minimize screen time for our youngest learners." A district spokesperson said the school system is reviewing other programs that could be phased out.

Students use Amira with headphones and laptops to practise reading fluency on their own. In 2024 the district said students using it for 30 minutes a week were showing increased rates of growth, and the former superintendent said they were growing faster than with any other intervention. Some parents objected that it was "priming our youngest learners to need screens." A local Schools Beyond Screens chapter, part of a regional coalition calling for a moratorium on student-facing AI, welcomed the change.

The Banner notes that the Los Angeles Unified School District enacted a moratorium on student use of generative AI in September, New York City banned AI for students below third grade the same month, and Maryland's Frederick County Public Schools banned AI for all grades in October.