Amira pushes back on New Mexico lawmakers as questions over reading software widen
Amira Learning is pushing back on concerns raised by 35 New Mexico lawmakers as LCPS and other districts tighten safeguards around student voice recordings and reading assessments.
The company disputes concerns about AI model drift and student data after 35 legislators sought new safeguards, while LCPS has already deleted recordings and changed how the assessment is used
Damien Willis, Organ Mountain News
LAS CRUCES - The company behind a computer-based reading assessment used in Las Cruces Public Schools is pushing back against concerns raised by 35 New Mexico lawmakers, saying legislators misunderstand how the software uses artificial intelligence and handles student data.
Amira Learning sent a three-page response Friday to state Education Secretary Mariana Padilla and Sen. William Soules, chair of the Legislative Education Study Committee, after lawmakers urged the New Mexico Public Education Department to provide parents more information about Amira, require parental consent before future use and increase oversight of the software.
The Aug. 25 letter from lawmakers raised concerns about student voice recordings, sensitive data and the possibility that Amira’s underlying technology could change as it is exposed to new information — a phenomenon known as model drift.
Amira rejected that characterization.
“Although we appreciate the legislature’s concerns the letter reflects a significant misunderstanding of what our Assessment is, does, and how it works,” founder and CEO Mark Angel wrote.
The statewide dispute arrives after LCPS already made several changes to its own use of Amira following questions from parents and School Board members about student recordings, privacy and the reliability of the assessment.
Damien Willis
What Amira does
Amira is used to assess early reading skills by having students read aloud into a microphone while software analyzes their speech.
The program listens for reading errors, hesitations and other indicators of difficulty and provides teachers with information intended to help identify students who may need additional reading support.
PED implemented Amira ISIP statewide beginning with the 2025-26 school year as a mandatory reading assessment for students in kindergarten through second grade. Students are assessed at the beginning, middle and end of the school year, with additional monthly assessments for students who have not yet reached proficiency.
Amira says its assessment is not a chatbot or large language model. It does not hold conversations with students, generate its own content or independently make instructional decisions.
A May report prepared by LESC staff described Amira as one of New Mexico’s most prominent uses of artificial intelligence in public schools, combining live voice recognition and AI analysis to measure oral reading fluency and identify errors.
That report also raised broader questions about how New Mexico vets and governs AI tools used in schools, noting that the state does not have AI-specific procurement standards, student-data privacy rules or a formal process for evaluating educational AI products.
Company rejects ‘model drift’ concern
Much of Amira’s response focuses on lawmakers’ concern that the assessment could change over time as it processes student information.
The company says that does not happen during the school year.
According to Amira, the assessment model is “versioned and frozen” and changes only once annually when a new school-year version is released. It does not retrain itself on student data in real time, the company said.
“There is zero ‘drift’ across a school year,” Angel wrote.
Amira said each annual model is tested against human-scored benchmarks before release, including checks involving accents, dialects and English learners.
The company said it also monitors performance and offered to walk PED and legislators through results specific to New Mexico students.
Amira Tutor, a separate product used to provide reading practice and intervention, is updated more frequently and uses different models, the company said.
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Support Organ Mountain NewsLCPS had already changed course on recordings
Questions about student recordings surfaced locally earlier this month.
LCPS disabled retention of voice recordings generated through Amira for the current school year and asked PED and the vendor to delete previously stored recordings involving district students.
Days later, LCPS said Amira had provided written confirmation that those earlier recordings had been deleted.
The district also made a paper-based reading assessment available to families who do not want their children completing the computerized version.
Those changes came amid broader discussion by LCPS officials about the accuracy and future of Amira as a statewide assessment.
Deputy Superintendent Wendi Miller-Tomlinson told the School Board earlier this month that Amira may not ultimately remain the state’s sole K-2 assessment option as PED prepares a new procurement.
The local response mirrors some of the safeguards later adopted by Albuquerque Public Schools, which also sought deletion of previous recordings and limited future storage of student audio.
Amira says it does not sell student data
Lawmakers also questioned how student information is collected and used.
Amira said it does not sell student data and “will not ever” sell it.
The company also said it will not use recordings from New Mexico students to build products “for anyone else.”
Amira said it collects demographic information required by New Mexico for statewide assessments and would welcome permission from PED to stop collecting it.
The company said its access to student information is governed by federal privacy laws and by agreements with the state and individual school districts.
The company did not say in its letter whether recordings or other data from New Mexico students are used in developing or validating its own annual model updates.
Damien Willis
One signer withdraws support
At least one of the 35 lawmakers who signed the Aug. 25 letter has already changed his position.
Sen. Jay Block, R-Rio Rancho, sent Padilla a separate letter Friday saying that after conducting additional research, he no longer shares the concerns raised in the earlier letter.
Block cited steps taken by Albuquerque Public Schools to protect student data and voice recordings while continuing to use Amira.
“These important steps not only empower parents, but they help protect student privacy without sacrificing the assessment consistency and personalized remediation available to students through this software platform,” Block wrote.
His name and signature appear on the original lawmakers’ letter.
Statewide questions remain
The dispute comes as New Mexico lawmakers consider broader rules governing artificial intelligence in public schools.
LESC staff reported in May that PED’s statewide rollout of Amira highlights gaps in the state’s approach to AI, including the absence of formal statewide procurement standards and AI-specific student privacy requirements.
The report said it remains unclear what vetting processes and stakeholder input PED used before implementing Amira statewide.
For LCPS families, however, some of the immediate questions have already produced concrete changes.
Prior student voice recordings have been deleted, retention has been disabled and families have a paper assessment option.
What remains unresolved is whether Amira will continue playing the same role in New Mexico classrooms once the state completes its next assessment procurement — and whether the debate now unfolding at the Legislature produces broader statewide safeguards for the technology schools use to listen to, assess and store information about young readers.
Damien Willis is founder and editor of Organ Mountain News. If you have a personal story to share or a lead we should follow up on, reach out at OrganMountainNews@gmail.com or connect with him on X at @damienwillis.
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