I emailed this to TPT support and Paul Mishkin on Thu Fri Oct 16, 2026.

Here is a PDF version.

To TPT, love Mike

RE: TPT AI policy

Hi Team TPT,

First of all, thank you for all that you do. I love TPT. You are an important part of my entrepreneurial journey. 

I left the teaching profession in 2018 due to a mental health crisis. TPT gave me a way to reinvent myself. Although I couldn’t teach in the classroom, I could still create lessons and teach vicariously through others. TPT gave me a way to keep going. You expanded my reach to help teachers and students I’ll never meet. 

Through your platform, teachers have downloaded over 111,062 Educircles resources across 59 countries. I estimate Educircles Social Emotional Learning Resources have been used with over 1.1 million students. That’s very cool and humbling at the same time. 

  • Thank you to all of the people who work exclusively on Teachers Pay Teachers. You have a deep understanding of this teacher ecosystem and its strengths and weaknesses. Thank you for being an advocate behind closed doors.
  • Thank you to the Team IXL members who work on TPT as part of their responsibilities. You bring a wider perspective of edtech that a single company can lack. Your high level insight is appreciated. 

TPT is heading into a new dawn; I want to walk with you, but unfortunately I can’t. 

I create high-effort, AI assisted teaching resources that help make the world a better place.  

On October 8, 2026, TPT committed to going AI free.  “You can expect to hear more from us in the next few weeks about how we’re approaching this change. In the meantime, generative AI should not be used to create images or text in resources or product listings on TPT. This includes resource files, cover images and thumbnails, preview files, or product descriptions.”

  • I’m no longer in the classroom. When I was teaching, I used technology to enhance my instruction. I used my computer in every lesson guided by my pedagogical expertise. If you said, I can’t use a computer to create resources, I’m out.
  • If I was in the classroom today, I would use generative AI to enhance my lessons and to create effective teaching experiences for my students quicker and more effectively than what I could do by hand. If you said I couldn’t sell those teacher-created, classroom-tested resources, I’m out. 

I understand the value of niching down to a “teacher-created, classroom ready and AI free” marketplace. My YouTube video explains why I think this is a good move for IXL and why I think sellers should stay if they can.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUszh6V-LYI

My concern is that TPT is throwing the baby out with the bathwater. You have the impossible task of combating low-effort AI slop; however a black-and-white, no generative AI rule means high-effort, AI assisted, research based lessons are out, too. I wonder if there’s a third compromise that is win:win? 

When people have to go gluten-free, they are often surprised by how many foods contain gluten. Their new reality is significantly different from their old diet. I wonder if asking teachers to go AI free is similar. 

If a teacher like me can’t follow you, what kind of teachers will be left? Teachers who are anti-AI (or slow to adopt technology) will love the opportunity to create for TPT. How big is that creator pool?  

I’m not Taylor Swift. (Actually, my goal is to be the Ted Lasso of TPT, not Taylor Swift.)  I have no illusions that I can change the direction TPT is heading. I bring up “To Apple, Love Taylor” because it’s okay for major corporations to pivot. 

I imagine I could have requested a back channel conversation with management; I want to be transparent and public to enact social change. My goal in writing an open letter is two fold. 

  1. I hope this letter will help some people in closed door meetings to advocate for teachers and AI. 
  1. I hope this letter models for the TPT Seller community that the end of a relationship doesn’t have to mean a messy divorce. It could be a positive parting of ways. 

I believe that societal change requires top-down leadership and bottom-up crowd support. I will continue to report on TPT land through the lens of active citizenship, critical thinking, and business equanimity. 

I’m on Team Teacher. I will walk as far as I can with Team TPT, but I see our paths diverging up ahead due to the AI-free direction. 

Let’s stay friends and see what happens! 

See you in the next video.

Cheers, Mike
[email protected] 

cc Paul Mishkin, IXL CEO