New rules on the use of artificial intelligence in New York City public schools are expected this month, as education officials move to respond to growing unease among parents and teachers about how fast new technology has entered classrooms.City education leaders say the guidance will spell out clearer limits on AI tools and give families a chance to weigh in. The announcement follows months of complaints that schools have been left to navigate AI on their own, with little direction from the central department.At a meeting of the Panel for Educational Policy, the Department of Education’s Chief Academic Officer Miatheresa Pate said the city would soon release “guardrails for what we do next,” a comment quoted by the Gothamist. She said parents would be able to register feedback once the rules are released.Parents worry about privacy and consentFor some families, the issue feels urgent. Sarah Gentile, a parent in Brooklyn, said she was shocked last year to learn that her daughter’s kindergarten class was using voice recording software as part of a new literacy curriculum. Gentile said she asked that her child be excluded because of concerns about how the recordings could be used, in comments she made to the Gothamist.“It’s biometric data,” Gentile said, as quoted by the Gothamist. She said her daughter, now a first grader, and one other child sit in a corner doing a different activity while the rest of the class uses the app.Gentile said parents should be clearly informed and given the option to opt out. “We’re not technophobes,” she said. “But there seems to be an absence of a tech plan,” she added, in remarks quoted by the Gothamist.Gentile is among parents who have signed a petition calling for a two-year pause on all AI use in classrooms. The petition argues: “The largest school system in the country should use its purchasing power and moral authority to protect children, not leave them subject to a surveillance experiment that will undermine learning and leave them a world on fire,” language cited by the Gothamist.Shifting policies and contract concernsCriticism has also focused on the department’s uneven approach to AI. The Department of Education banned ChatGPT shortly after its launch, then later reversed that decision. At the same time, the teachers’ union has partnered with major technology companies to offer training on responsible AI use, according to the Gothamist.The Panel for Educational Policy has rejected several contracts in recent months over AI concerns. Panel member Naveed Hasan said approving contracts before a formal policy exists puts the city at a disadvantage. “The playbook is late,” Hasan said. “There’s so much money pushing products into the DOE,” he added, in comments quoted by the Gothamist.Last week, the panel narrowly approved a contract with education company Kiddom after initially voting it down. Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels said, “This is critical because we’re trying to get to what you want, which is not to have the AI platform available,” a statement quoted by the Gothamist.Working groups and mixed signalsAs part of its policy development, the department created two working groups, one focused on data privacy and another on AI more broadly. Leonie Haimson, executive director of Class Size Matters and a member of the privacy group, said the process has lacked transparency. “Our Working Group has been stymied, sidelined and stonewalled at every step of the way,” she wrote, adding that members were denied basic information about AI products and privacy policies, in a letter cited by the Gothamist.Education officials have disputed that account, saying relevant information is public and that the group has met multiple times.In a January interview, Samuels acknowledged public anxiety while expressing optimism. “I think number one thing we have to do is to really work against some of the fear that’s attached to the conversation around AI,” he said. “I’m excited about it… if we do it well, it has the potential to accelerate student learning,” he added, in comments quoted by the Gothamist.
