New AI Policy for SJUSD
Hi Friends,
Part of what motivates this campaign is the belief that the participants of our public school system should be encouraged, allowed, and accommodated to participate in the decision-making and governance of our schools. Repeating the pattern from so many other district decisions, a new AI policy has shown up on the agenda, drafted without consideration from our school communities and without an invitation for collaboration. The new AI policy has shown up on the agenda for tonight's board meeting, and adding an item to an agenda for discussion without a broader announcement is not how meaningful community engagement should be implemented. See below for my thoughts.
San Jose Unified's New AI Policy
First, I don't believe that we should be asked to commit to a set of policies governing technology we still don’t fully understand. I worry that we are making the same mistakes with AI that we, as a society, have made in the recent past with social media and access to devices during school. Out of fear of children falling behind or missing out (the “digital divide”), we prioritized new technologies before we understood the potential impacts on attention, mental health, and learning.
Other large school districts have recognized the need for caution- both Los Angeles Unified and New York City’s public schools have issued a one-year moratorium on AI usage in classrooms. San Jose Unified should follow suit to give sufficient time to determine where AI can expand learning, train teachers on how to structure assignments where AI might be used, and ensure that the access that we give students to these tools can be properly regulated. Generative artificial intelligence is changing so rapidly that we cannot promise that our policies we might craft today will be relevant and useful even within a few months.
What about staff AI usage?
The district’s draft policy says too little about staff usage of AI. I believe that if we provide the tools and create the expectation that students should disclose when and how they use AI, we should be clear with students and families about the ways teachers and staff will use AI. The current proliferation of AI generated newsletters, flyers, and other communications creates messaging that doesn’t resonate with families and misses opportunities for genuine connection. Furthermore, I do not believe that we should allow teachers to use AI tools to evaluate student’s written work, but minimally, we should require disclosure if it is.
The training of staff on how to best use AI tools in their everyday work is a huge undertaking and one we should fully commit to in the upcoming year. That will prepare them to then consider how and where AI usage in the classroom might have added value to our education. Until that time, our children’s education is too valuable to be used as the next experiment. We should be issuing a moratorium on classroom usage, not granting permission for our limited instructional time to be used in ways that we can’t be confident will lead to more learning or better outcomes.
What can you do?
The current draft policy is up for consideration at this Thursday’s school board meeting. I encourage you to come, make a public comment, and let your trustee know what you believe our children deserve.
Two ways to help this campaign:
Follow me on instagram!
Help my content get shown to your friends and neighbors. If you follow me and like or comment, it's more likely to get shown to other people in your network.
Door Knocking
This Saturday morning (9-12) we’ll be out canvassing again. Sign up to participate, let voters know why you support this campaign, meet neighbors, hear constituent concerns, and get the word out about this important election.