New York State United Teachers announced today that it is committed to advancing developmentally appropriate limits on educational technology in New York schools. NYSUT’s 82-member board of directors this weekend passed a resolution that calls for developmentally appropriate limits on screen time and artificial intelligence in New York schools — especially for the youngest learners — while affirming that educators, parents and families, not technology companies, should drive decisions about how technology is used in the classroom.
Specifically, the resolution calls for:
- No one-to-one screen/device use for students (including online assessments) in prekindergarten through second grade except to support students with documented needs such as translation or special education services;
- Requiring paper-and-pencil assessment/testing options be provided for all students as called for by NYSUT’s More Teaching, Less Testing report;
- No student-facing AI for pre-kindergarten through second grade students;
- No non-educationally based AI for students in grades three through eight;
- Requiring that the use of AI in any grade must be supervised, educator-led and designed to promote critical thinking, digital literacy, and civic readiness, rather than replace human instruction, creativity or judgment; and
- No so-called “social companion” chatbots — computer programs that simulate human relationships, for children under 16; and be it further
NYSUT will work with parents, experts, community partners, and other organizations to lead the state and national conversation on the appropriate role of technology in learning, especially for younger children.
“Educators are not anti-technology. We are pro-child,” Person said. “Every decision made in the name of innovation must actually serve the students in our classrooms, and NYSUT will lead that fight.”
Last week, AFT President Randi Weingarten laid out a bold 10-point framework for public education, calling for a “devices-down, eyes-up, hands-on” strategy for the AI era. The Surgeon General has also recently raised alarms about the effects of excessive screen exposure on children’s health, development, and mental well-being.
“What President Weingarten outlined is a vision we are proud to stand behind, and New York has both the opportunity and the obligation to make it real,” Person said. “This isn’t a debate about whether technology belongs in schools. The question is who decides how it’s used: educators and families, or EdTech companies with billions of dollars at stake? The answer has to be us.”
At least a dozen states have introduced or enacted legislation to limit unnecessary classroom screen time, and the Los Angeles Unified School District has recently moved to ban screens through first grade. New York created momentum last year with a bell-to-bell cellphone ban, a foundation NYSUT intends to build on.