Family rights and classroom technology
Follow parental consent, student privacy, classroom AI and rules for personal devices.
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Education Department letter requires written parental consent for student surveys, mental health screenings
An Aug. 26 Dear Colleague letter from the Student Privacy Policy Office says opt-out policies are not enough under PPRA. It also addresses parental access to student gender plans.
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Utah draft rule R277-334 sets grade-level screen-time, device, and AI limits for all LEAs by July 2027
The Utah State Board of Education released a second draft of its model policy and a draft rule implementing HB273, requiring local education agencies to adopt grade-banded technology and artificial intelligence governance by July 2027.
Frederick County, Md., school board votes 6-1 to ban artificial intelligence for all PreK-12 students
The board approved Policy 124 ahead of an Oct. 22 state deadline, reversing a Google Gemini pilot, as Maryland's new AI Ready Schools Act takes effect.
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.
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.
Texas proposed virtual-education rules let charters compel online enrollment while districts may not
The Texas Education Agency's proposed Chapter 71 rules create a structural difference in parental rights: open-enrollment charter schools may require a student to attend a full-time virtual or hybrid campus, but school districts must offer in-person instruction and cannot compel virtual enrollment.
Anne Arundel schools require parental consent for transgender students’ preferred names after federal FERPA action
Internal slides show staff must follow parental objection on names and pronouns, while the public regulation still says students have the right to be addressed by their gender identity. The change follows a July 2026 enforcement action by the U.S. Education and Justice departments.
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.
DOJ sues Kansas City, Kansas schools over transgender guidelines, alleging parents kept in dark
The first federal lawsuit asserting that school gender-identity policies violate FERPA and PPRA could set a national precedent for parental-notification rules tied to education funding.
JCPS to pay $465,000 a year for i-Ready as lawsuits challenge platform's claims and data practices
Kentucky's largest district will swap MAP for i-Ready next year. Two active lawsuits question the diagnostic tool's efficacy claims and student data handling; research shows mixed results.
Ohio becomes first state to require AI policies in every public school district
A new state law gives districts until July 2026 to adopt an artificial intelligence policy, but leaves the content largely up to local boards.
Districts begin classroom AI deployment as causal evidence remains thin
A small share of U.S. school districts are moving from AI policy-writing to vendor contracts and pilots in 2025-26. The strongest causal research still comes from outside U.S. K-12 classrooms, with mixed findings on whether learning gains persist.
Four countries, four mechanisms: how school phone bans took shape across Europe
France legislated. The Netherlands struck a voluntary national agreement. England issued guidance and now wants a statute. Early Dutch results show improved concentration, but the academic research remains contested.