Albuquerque Public Schools will keep using the AI reading program Amira this year, but district leaders said Wednesday they will cut back on student voice recordings and delete data more frequently to address privacy concerns from parents.
The program, required by the state Public Education Department since the 2025-26 school year, listens to students read aloud, flags pronunciation errors, and scores their performance. It's used for both regular assessments and weekly tutoring across New Mexico schools.
In a letter to parents, APS Deputy Superintendent Randy Mahlerwein said Amira's leadership documented that all voice data from before the current school year had been deleted. Recordings from the testing feature will now be deleted every 48 hours so teachers can still listen back, and the tutoring component will score and analyze student voices without recording them.
The changes come after parents packed school board meetings across the state, worried about where children's data goes and who can access it. At least 15 of New Mexico's 89 districts and one charter school have opted out of the state requirement since the start of the month, according to PED spokesperson Janelle Taylor García.
APS - the state's largest district - has resisted that pressure, citing student progress made with the program. Parents who don't want their children using Amira can take a paper-and-pencil test instead, Mahlerwein said.
Lawmakers push for parental consent
The privacy concerns have reached the state capitol. More than 30 lawmakers from both parties signed a letter Monday to PED Secretary Mariana Padilla, asking the agency to require parental consent before Amira is used and to release public information about how the program works.
"You're talking about the biometric data of children 5 to 8 years old," said Rep. Linda Serrato, D-Santa Fe, who led the group. "That's valuable stuff, and we know it, but we have to treat it as such."
Serrato also said she worries about what children learn about AI itself when they interact with Amira, which appears on screen as a cartoon character with purple hair and glasses. "Our job right now is to be teaching every level of New Mexican, whether they're children all the way up to our elders, just what AI is and what it isn't," she said. "My concern is that it really is humanizing this tool."
She said building stronger AI guidance is a top priority for the legislative session in January.
Taylor García said in a statement that PED "welcomes the opportunity to discuss these matters with the Legislature and to partner in creating clear safeguards, strong accountability measures, and transparent communication with families."
Lawmakers raise 'model drift' concerns
The lawmakers' letter also flagged "model drift" - the risk that an AI product's accuracy declines after launch as it adapts to user behavior. The letter said that once children's voices are used to train the model, "the system's behavior and performance can change."
Amira CEO Mark Angel called that a "complete misunderstanding." He said the assessment doesn't change during the school year, and that the company is approved by more than 30 state agencies.
"If there was any truth to what they're asserting, no state agency would be willing to rely on our data," he said.
Angel said Amira collects student data only under direction from PED, so the state can produce reading performance reports. "We don't want to collect this data; it's a nuisance," he said. "If the Legislature or PED tells us to stop collecting the data, we will stop instantaneously."
He acknowledged the 48-hour deletion window gives teachers less time to review recordings, but said the audio exists to help teachers assess progress, not for any internal company purpose. He also said the company does not sell or transmit data to outside parties, citing contractual obligations and Federal Trade Commission penalties as safeguards.
New Mexico spends $2.7 million per year on Amira for software, professional development, data analysis, and tutoring support, according to company leadership. The statewide assessment alone costs $1.4 million. Amira is required for assessments in New Mexico and Idaho, and is authorized for use in six other states.
The program was adopted after Istation, the previous testing software provider, was acquired by Amira Learning in 2024.
Why this matters for education professionals
For teachers and administrators, the Amira dispute is an early test case of how AI tools enter classrooms under state mandates - and what happens when parents push back. The compromise APS reached keeps the program in place but changes how voice data is handled, which may set a template for other districts navigating similar requirements.
Educators using tools like Amira should expect more scrutiny of data practices and clearer opt-out pathways for families. The legislative push for parental consent and transparency around AI in schools is likely to continue in January, and AI for Education resources can help teachers understand how these systems work. Training options like AI for Teachers can also help educators explain to students and parents what these tools actually do with the data they collect.
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