School Decision

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.

HHS Campaign Urges Schools to Cut Screen Time, Return to Pen and Paper

The Live Real Life campaign, backed by a Surgeon General's advisory, recommends bell-to-bell cellphone bans and computer labs over 1-to-1 devices, as the NTIA separately examines federal broadband's role in school screen use.

On September 1, 2026, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services hosted the Live Real Life Symposium in Washington, D.C., launching a national campaign run through the Office of the Surgeon General to reduce harmful screen use among children. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. called for less screen time and more real life, and the campaign builds on a May 2026 Surgeon General's advisory that recommends schools implement bell-to-bell cellphone bans, prioritize pen-and-paper assignments, move devices to computer labs, and invest in physical textbooks.

Indiana's 42-credit diploma with stackable seals takes effect for class of 2029

The state replaces its Core 40 diploma with a single base credential plus six work-based learning seals. Implementation starts this fall amid concerns about rural placements, counselor ratios, and funding.

California signs nation's strongest AI chatbot and social media child safety laws

Governor Gavin Newsom signed a package of bills in 2025 and 2026 that impose time limits, crisis protocols, and bans on addictive features for minors, with key requirements taking effect by July 2027.

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law a package of child online safety bills that, taken together, create the most comprehensive state-level framework regulating AI companion chatbots and social media features for minors. The two-phase package, signed across events in October 2025 and September 2026, includes baseline chatbot safety rules from SB 243, a second, tougher set of mandates under SB 1119, known as Adam's Law, and a law banning addictive social media features for users under 16 through AB 1709.

15 states ask court to block Education Department from terminating school mental health grants a second time

A coalition of states says the department is evading a December injunction by relabeling the cancellations, while the department says it has no finalized plan and the proper venue lies elsewhere.

Fifteen states are asking a federal judge to block the U.S. Department of Education from terminating roughly $1 billion in school-based mental health grants, the same awards a court ordered reinstated in December 2025. The states argue the department is evading the injunction by pursuing termination of the grants rather than discontinuation. The department says it has no finalized plan and that challenges to its decisions belong in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, according to Courthouse News Service.

California law bars ed-tech use of student data for AI training, extends privacy rules to colleges

AB 1159 prohibits companies from using identifiable student information to train generative AI and broadens California's school privacy laws to cover higher education, closing a loophole that let general platforms escape regulation.