An unconventional private school model that replaces traditional classroom lectures with artificial intelligence is gearing up for a massive nationwide expansion this fall, even as critics and powerful teachers unions sound the alarm.

Alpha Schools, which says its students learn twice as fast as those in “standard” schools, is planning to open new campuses in Chicago, Atlanta, Charlotte, Raleigh, and several California hubs, including Santa Monica, Palo Alto, and the East Bay. The school already operates in Austin, New York, and Miami.

The Alpha model is built on a “two-hour core” subject requirement. Students spend their mornings using adaptive AI software to master academics like math and English before transitioning to an afternoon of “life skills” workshops and project-based learning.

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According to the school, the results are significant:

Despite the high-end branding, the school is facing a wall of skepticism from the education establishment. Researchers warn that the long-term effects of removing human teachers from the primary instructional role are unknown.

“The research on personalized learning and [AI learning] is mixed at best,” Charles Logan, an education researcher at Northwestern’s Center for Responsible Technology, Policy and Public Dialogue, told Block Club Chicago. “I think the Alpha Schools’ approach to adaptive tutoring is like an open experiment [and] is not supported by critical research.”

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The school has already hit regulatory roadblocks. Efforts to secure charter school status—which would allow it to receive public funding—have been rejected in several states. Pennsylvania officials denied the school’s application, stating the model “fails to demonstrate how the tools… would ensure alignment to Pennsylvania academic standards.”

The school’s arrival in Chicago has drawn sharp condemnation from labor leaders who view the model as a threat to traditional public education.

Pankaj Sharma, Secretary-Treasurer of the Illinois Federation of Teachers, slammed the school in a statement to Fox News Digital, linking the model to “the voucher lobby.”

“Exorbitant tuition for a school with a MAGA founder, no teachers, no state accreditation, but an AI platform that surveils children and has a track record of harmful outcomes? No thank you,” Sharma said. “Melania can keep her robots and public dollars should stay in public schools.”

Ebony DeBerry, an elected member of the Chicago Board of Education, expressed similar concerns, telling Block Club Chicago that human teachers are vital for “emotional support” and “problem-solving skills” that technology cannot replicate.

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Alpha founder Mackenzie Price is pushing back against what the school calls a “mainstream media” narrative. In a 2024-2025 year-end reflection, the school addressed the “robot” stigma.

“They paint a picture of robot terminator AI tutors, without substantive human guidance,” the document stated. “But the truth about Alpha is the opposite. Adult humans—we call them teachers, guides and coaches—are the most important part of our schools.”

The school maintains that its “guides” provide the motivational and emotional support students need, while the AI simply handles the data-driven heavy lifting of personalized instruction.

While the Chicago Teachers Union remained silent on the expansion, districts in other expansion zones, such as Conroe Independent School District in Texas, say they are monitoring the model but noted there is currently “limited data” on the success of AI-driven campuses.

The Chicago Teachers Union did not respond to a request for comment.

State and local authorities are searching for an armed suspect who allegedly opened fire at family members and responding law enforcement in New Hampshire on Saturday, wounding at least one police officer and triggering a massive manhunt.

The suspect, described as a middle-aged White man, allegedly shot at his family members just after 1:30 p.m. local time, and was later tracked down by officers.

He then opened fire on the responding officers, striking one of them, according to New Hampshire State Police.

The wounded officer, who has not yet been publicly identified, was taken to a local hospital by ambulance.

The gunman allegedly ran from the scene and additional law enforcement personnel responded to set up a perimeter around the area in an effort to contain the suspect.

He is 5 feet, 11 inches tall and weighs just over 200 pounds, according to state police. He has black hair and hazel eyes, and is believed to be traveling on foot.

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The Raymond Police Department said an automated message was sent by NH 911 for residents to shelter in place.

Officials warned residents in the area of Ham and Nottingham roads to take cover and “anticipate a presence of uniformed law enforcement personnel.”

Multiple roads remain closed, including Route 156, according to the department.

State police told Fox News Digital it is assisting with the search, along with additional law enforcement agencies.

The Raymond Police Department and Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to additional inquiries from Fox News Digital.

Raymond is a small town in southern New Hampshire, about 20 minutes east of Manchester and roughly an hour north of Boston, Massachusetts.

Paul McCartney is opening up about how his wife helped him deal with the breakup of The Beatles.

In the documentary, “Paul McCartney: Man on the Run,” director Morgan Neville spoke with the 83-year-old musician about his life after The Beatles, and how a mantra he learned from his late wife, Linda McCartney, helped him cope, teaching him “not to be too uptight.”

“In a situation like that you lost your job, you can get uptight very easily,” he said. “One of my favorite expressions of hers was, you’d be saying, ‘Oh, I don’t know. I’d love to do so and so, but I can’t. I can’t,’ and she’d say, ‘it’s allowed.’ It’s like all the weight just went off. It’s allowed. Yeah, of course it is. So those kind of things really impressed me and I think probably made me think a lot more was allowed than was.”

Linda and Paul met in 1967, while she was working as a photographer, and were married two years later in March 1969. Throughout their marriage, the two welcomed three children: Mary, Stella and James.

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In the documentary, Paul called Linda “a freeing influence,” saying that while she grew up in a “posh” area of New York and “was on track to become the sort of company wife,” that’s not what she wanted.

“She liked rock and roll, and she would do things like sneak out of the house late at night to and drive into New York with a boyfriend,” he said. “So there was a lot of freedom in her thinking, so I think that’s really was good for me.”

A few years after The Beatles broke up, Paul formed the band Wings, with Linda joining full-time as a keyboardist and also providing vocals.

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Wings went on to become one of the biggest bands of the 1970s, with hits like “Band on the Run,” “Live and Let Die” and “My Love,” and two Grammy Award wins.

When thinking about that time, Paul says when he listens to the music and hears “these beautiful harmonies coming from Linda,” he still stands in awe of her talent.

“I think wait a minute there was no auto tune. We didn’t have any of…that’s real,” he said. “She hadn’t had any lessons and it was just a love of singing. I liked her voice. Her style was not operatic. It was not blues.”

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Paul and Linda were married for nearly 30 years before her death in 1998 at the age of 58, following a battle with breast cancer.

During an interview with BBC Radio Scotland’s Ricky Ross Meets Paul shared that following her death, “I think I cried for about a year on and off.”

“You expect to see them walk in, this person you love, because you are so used to them,” he said. “I cried a lot. It was almost embarrassing except it seemed the only thing to do.”

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The couple’s eldest daughter, Mary, followed in her mother’s footsteps, growing up to be a photographer. Their middle child, Stella, famously went on to become a fashion designer, calling herself “one of the first nepo-babies” in an interview with Time in 2023.

Their son James is now a musician, having partnered with his father’s former bandmate, John Lennon’s son, Sean Lennon to write the 2024 song, “Primrose Hill.”

Paul also shares daughter Beatrice, with his second wife, Heather Mills, and was also stepfather to Linda’s daughter Heather from her previous marriage.