More Info

AI apps are now part of District 14’s mandated literacy curriculum, which means teachers and students are required to use them. But we don’t have a complete picture of AI’s role in our schools, because the NYC Department of Education currently provides no central guidance on digital technology for teachers, students, or families. Instead, here are some other resources you might find useful. We’ll keep expanding this list as new information comes to light.

DISTRICT 14’s ED-TECH VENDORS AND A.I. PARTNERS
+ Amira (an AI “reading tutor” used in all District 14 schools)
+ HMH (an AI ed-tech company that supplies D14’s mandated literacy curriculum, including Amira)
+ aiEDU (an industry group that helps place AI ed tech in K-12 schools)
+ Day of AI (a nonprofit promoting “responsible AI use” in K-12 classrooms)

NYC PUBLIC SCHOOLS DIGITAL-TECHNOLOGY POLICIES
+ NYC Public Schools Digital Learning & Intervention
+ NYC Public Schools data privacy and security compliance process
+ NY States Education Law Section 2-D

PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS AND THEIR UNION
+ teacher’s union announces its $23m deal with OpenAI, Microsoft, and Anthropic to create a National Academy for AI Instruction
+ open letter from NYC teachers criticizing the deal
+ more criticism from NYC teachers: “UFT’s $23m Sellout”
+ NYC teachers on the pitfalls of commercial curricula (including HMH)
+ podcast: “NYC Teachers Speak out about AI in the Classroom”
+ “Resisting AI Mania in Schools”
+ “My Case for Nuance with the Term ‘Efficiency’ in Education”

PUBLIC SCHOOL FAMILIES CONCERNED ABOUT ED TECH
+ Parents for AI Caution in Educational Spaces (NYC)
+ NYC Public School Parents
+ Schools Beyond Screens (Los Angeles)
+ Stop AI in Malden Schools (Massachusetts)
+ Screen Sense Evanston (Illinois)
+ Paces Vancouver (BC, Canada)

EDUCATION & CHILD-DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATIONS
+ UNICEF: “Guidance on AI and Children”
+ American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry: “Is AI Dangerous for Children?”
+ Center for Democracy & Technology: “Schools’ Embrace of Technology Connected to Increased Risk for Students”
+ National Education Policy Center: “Time for a Pause: Without Effective Public Oversight, AI in Schools Will Do More Harm than Good”
+ Brookings Institution: “A New Direction for Students in an AI World: Prosper, Prepare, Protect”
+ University of Chicago: “Social Pressure Drives Parents to Adopt AI That May Harm Students”
+ National Education Policy Center: “Fit for Purpose? How Today’s Commercial Digital Platforms Subvert Key Goals of Public Education”
+ Second Breakfast newsletter

MEDIA COVERAGE
+ New York Times: “US schools are betting big on AI. Will NYC by next?”
+ The Economist: “Ed tech is profitable. It's also mostly useless.”
+ New York Times: “The Screen That Ate Your Child’s Education”
+ Bloomberg: “AI and Chatbots Are Already Reshaping the US Classroom”
+ New York Times: “Even Basic AI Use Is Bad For Students”
+ Have You Heard (podcast): “Don’t Buy the AI Hype”
+ New York Times: “Every Tech Tool in the Classroom Should Be Ruthlessly Evaluated”
+ The Conversation: “Technology and Teacher Burnout”
+ The Opinions (NYT podcast): “AI Is Fueling a Poverty of Imagination.”
+ Critical Studies of Education & Technology: “We Need to talk about AI in Terms of Values, Not Vibes”
+ New York Times: “What OpenAI Did When ChatGPT Users Lost Touch With Reality”
+ University of California Law Journal: “How AI Destroys Institutions”
+ The Verge: “The AI Boom Is Based on a Fundamental Mistake”
+ The Guardian: “Why Trillions of Dollars of Risk Is No Guarantee of AI Reward”