Why It Matters
Across the United States, K-12 school systems are confronting a technology that arrived in classrooms before administrators had any framework to manage it. Artificial intelligence tools are now used by the vast majority of teachers and students, yet formal training, privacy protections, and usage standards remain incomplete in most districts. The stakes are significant: a global market currently valued at $391.2 million for AI products in K-12 settings is projected to reach $9 billion within a decade.
What Happened
Legislatures responded this year with an unprecedented volume of AI-focused education bills — more than 134 measures filed across 31 states — addressing everything from data privacy and usage restrictions to teacher training and student literacy requirements.
In Maryland, Democratic state Sen. Katie Fry Hester sponsored a bill signed into law in May. Under that law, every school system must designate an AI coordinator, the state must deliver professional development on AI to teachers statewide, and the Department of Education must issue formal guidance. The statute also embeds AI literacy into K-12 career readiness and computer science standards.
Idaho took a similar path with a law signed in March, directing local school districts and charter schools to build their own AI usage policies while establishing state-level benchmarks for AI literacy and training. That law also contains an explicit prohibition: no AI system may replace or eliminate a human teacher.
Oklahoma acted within the past month, enacting legislation that limits AI tools to age-appropriate applications, requires teachers to evaluate AI-generated content before presenting it to students, and gives parents the ability to remove their children from AI tool use. Local school boards there must adopt written policies ahead of the 2027-28 school year, and the state education department has been directed to develop supporting guidance.
Ohio has set a hard deadline of July 1 for every school district, community school, and STEM school to adopt an AI use policy built around a state model framework. That framework covers student and staff usage, privacy safeguards, ethical standards, vendor agreements, third-party tools, and how AI intersects with student assessments.
At the more restrictive end of the spectrum, New York Assemblymember Robert Carroll has introduced a bill that would ban most AI use in kindergarten through eighth-grade classrooms altogether.
By the Numbers
- 134+ AI-in-education bills filed in 31 states during the current legislative cycle
- 85% of teachers reported using AI in their classrooms during the 2024-25 school year
- 86% of students used AI for personal or academic purposes
- ~50% of both teachers and students received any formal training or school-provided information about AI — with even fewer receiving instruction on its risks
- 70% of teachers expressed concern that student AI use is interfering with the development of foundational skills
- 50% of students reported feeling less connected to their teachers when AI was incorporated into class
- $391.2 million global K-12 AI market in 2024; projected to grow to $9 billion by 2034
Zoom Out
The policy surge follows the 2022 public launch of ChatGPT, which prompted New York City to briefly ban the tool from its schools over academic dishonesty concerns — an early signal of the regulatory challenges ahead. Noelle Ellerson Ng, chief advocacy and governance officer for the School Superintendents Association, described the situation plainly: “AI was something that could not be gatekept. It was in the classroom the minute students were able to access it.”
The breadth of state activity this year illustrates that no single approach has emerged as a consensus model. Some states are building comprehensive statewide infrastructure; others are delegating decisions to local boards; and a handful are pursuing outright restrictions for younger grade levels. The absence of federal standards has left the regulatory burden concentrated at the state and district level.
What’s Next
Ohio’s July 1 policy deadline is the most immediate pressure point for school administrators. Oklahoma districts have until before the 2027-28 school year to finalize board-approved policies. Implementation will test whether the legislative frameworks translate into actual classroom practice — particularly on teacher training, vendor oversight, and enforcement of age-appropriate standards. With more than 130 bills still working through various state legislatures, additional laws are expected to take effect before the next school year begins.