Not content with meddling in politics, Elon Musk's next venture is an attempt to reimagine America's education system. The South African billionaire is now funding a preschool in Texas called Ad Astra, which recently received a state permit to educate up to 21 students. The private Montessori school's website states that it is open to students ages three to nine, however, a detailed report from He said there is still no sign of children or teachers at the facility.
The school is located outside Bastrop, Texas, which is becoming a hub for Musk-owned companies. Boring Co.'s tunneling business is headquartered nearby, as is a SpaceX Starlink satellite production site. A building owned by x, formerly twitter, is also being built in the area.
Bloomberg He noted that Musk has frequently had educational offerings, sometimes under the same name as Ad Astra, attached to his businesses, so this new preschool could be intended for his employees' children. A job offer for an instructor at Ad Astra read: “As their parents support advances that expand the realm of human possibilities, their children will become the next generation of innovators in a way that only authentic Montessori can offer.”
Musk was a vocal and financial supporter of Donald Trump's 2024 presidential campaign, and both have made comments disparaging recent diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in education.
He's not the first tech figure to apply his views on education to American schools. Mark Zuckerberg tried to personalize the experience with <a target="_blank" data-i13n="elm:context_link;elmt:doNotAffiliate;cpos:3;pos:1" class="link " href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/2023/10/4/23903768/mark-zuckerberg-czi-schools-personalized-learning-technology-summit/” rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank” data-ylk=”slk:Summit Learning;elm:context_link;elmt:doNotAffiliate;cpos:3;pos:1;itc:0;sec:content-canvas”>. Jeff Bezos put his name and resources on . And Bill Gates has a long history of proposing ideas for public education that for students, such as charter schools and the Common Core State Standards.
