Our Vision

1. Public education is a way to develop good humans.

Public education is the cornerstone of a functional society, a healthy economy, and an effective democracy. Its mission is to develop our children into caring, curious, capable members of their community. We understand that learning is a social process that works best among a cohort of engaged students led by a supportive teacher. In a human-centered classroom, students don’t just acquire knowledge, they also develop interpersonal skills that are essential in any professional or social context — skills like face-to-face communication (how to articulate one’s thoughts and understand the thinking of others), shared cognition (how to work in a group, how to create knowledge collaboratively), and emotional awareness (how to interpret non-verbal social cues, how to positively interact with one’s peers, how to make and keep friends).

2. Public education is an expression of our values.

We recognize that technology can give us powerful new tools for improving our personal lives, our work, and our world — but only if those tools are developed to achieve our shared objectives, not simply to benefit commercial entities. To that end, before adopting any new digital tools for the classroom, administrators must provide a legitimate rationale that answers these questions: Is this technology the only way to achieve a clearly defined and valid educational purpose, and how is it an improvement over existing practices? And do the vendor’s commitments to its shareholders align with our values and the goals of public education?

3. Public education is a foundation of civic life.

We assert that transparency, accountability, and inclusivity are essential to a free and democratic society. The public must, therefore, have a genuine opportunity to provide meaningful direction over our schools. Commercial tech platforms often create obstacles to transparency and accountability, rendering a school’s decision-making process more opaque — a problem further exacerbated by AI. We support the Department of Education’s data privacy and security policy, which includes strict requirements for transparency. For this policy to be effective, however, NYCPS staff must systematically scrutinize the use of third-party software and disclose any academic or disciplinary decision made with input from generative AI. The DOE also needs experts on staff to oversee procurement and inspect updates of contracted software. Finally, these policies must be rigorously enforced, with meaningful consequences for any vendor that doesn’t comply, including fines and contract cancellations.

4. Public education is our shared future.

In this unprecedented moment, we see both danger and opportunity. If there is any truth to the tech industry’s vision of the future, we must launch our defense of public education now, before it’s too late. Generative AI is already used by millions of Americans every day, so we support any curriculum that helps students avoid the negative social, educational, and mental-health consequences associated with LLMs. The job market of the future is unpredictable, so public education should stay focused on the fundamentals (including reading, writing, and face-to-face communication), which remain indispensable across a wide range of careers. We applaud the DOE’s efforts to improve outcomes for all students, and the people we trust most to direct those efforts are our children’s teachers — not ed-tech lobbyists or vendors. As we look to the future, we hope that every student understands that their life prospects are tied to the fate of humanity as a whole. And we trust that our children, working together, will create a better world, one in which everyone has the opportunity to thrive.