AFT and Microsoft announce first national enforceable AI privacy standard for K-12 schools
The agreement bars AI training on student data, bans companion chatbots, and requires human oversight; districts can opt in starting November 1.
On September 9, 2026, the American Federation of Teachers, its New York City affiliate the United Federation of Teachers, and Microsoft announced what they described as the first national, contractually enforceable agreement governing how an AI vendor handles K-12 student data. The 30-page memorandum of agreement, called the “National AI Safety & Privacy Standard” for schools, was announced in New York by AFT President Randi Weingarten, UFT President Michael Mulgrew, and Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith.
The standard contains ten binding principles. Among them: no student or educator data may be used to train AI models; students cannot be tracked; AI cannot independently make decisions about discipline, academic placement, or employee evaluation without meaningful human review; AI companion chatbots are banned; and districts retain control over data retention and deletion. The protections apply to all data types, including prompts, responses, uploaded files, behavioral signals, metadata, and interaction logs.
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