Petition Seeks Limiting AI & Technology Assault on Chicago Public School Students

The IL Families for Public Schools announced a Pledge to Protect Human-Centered Education and is asking all Chicago Board of Education candidates to commit to limiting AI in the schools.

So far 21 school board candidates have signed on, IL Families for Public Education wrote in a press release.

The Pledge has four components: 1) a three-year moratorium on generative AI use in Chicago Public Schools; 2) creation of a Chief Privacy Officer position for the district; 3) limits on screen time for all grades; and 4) a ban on biometric information collection.

“Tech use in Chicago Public Schools (CPS) in and out of the classroom has increased rapidly in recent years—and along with it the collection and sharing of student data by for-profit companies. The district’s FY2027 budget for software and digital instructional materials is more than $50 million. But district policies have lagged in protecting students’ educational experience and their personal information,” the press release stated.

The district’s FY2027 budget for software and digital instructional materials is more than $50 million. But district policies have lagged in protecting students’ educational experience and their personal information

The candidates who have committed to the Pledge as of August 3rd are: Ed Bannon (1a), Claudia Peralta (1b), Ebony DeBerry (2a), Kyna Lenhof (2b), Debby Pope (2b), Norma Rios Sierra (3a), Jason Dónes (3b), Angel Alvarez (4a), Karen Zaccor (4a), Jitu Brown (5a), Michilla Blaise (5b), Brenda Lee Anderson (6a), Anusha Thotakura (6a), Brittany Kimble (6b), Emma Lozano (7a), Katherine Dunneback (9b), Che Smith (10a), Tameka Walton (10a), Connie Anderson (10b), Rosita Chatonda (10b), Hilario Domínguez (President).

Illinois Families for Public Schools wrote that AI often contains bad information and biased data and cannot replace human teachers or clinicians. “Students need real empathy, from special education professionals, not AI chatbots that don’t fully understand human emotions.”

“Students need real empathy, from special education professionals, not AI chatbots that don’t fully understand human emotions.”

The Chicago Board of Education’s approved policies on AI are minimal, primarily directing students and staff to follow guidance in the CPS AI Guidebook, issued in the summer of 2024 and revised since and it was not developed with the input of students, families or teachers, IL Families for Public Schools stated. CPS has been going all out promoting AI in the schools. The district is planning to give access to Google’s general-purpose AI assistant Gemini to all high school students at the start of the 2026-2027 school year.

The IL State of Board of Ed guidance on artificial intelligence passed last spring does not pose any binding requirements on districts with respect to AI use., ILFPS stated. They said the Ed Tech Bill that passed in the IL Senate but has not moved in the House had a provision removed that would have given parents the right to opt students out of digital technology.

NY City is circulating a petition to sign a two-year moratorium on the use of AI in the public schools. “A growing coalition of parents, teachers, education advocates, researchers and community leaders isn’t saying ‘never,’” the Wire: Powered by Educators of NY wrote. “They’re saying something much simpler. Slow down.”

Researchers have raised questions about whether AI weakens critical thinking and creativity. Privacy advocates warn that many AI systems collect enormous amounts of student data. Others point to growing evidence of bias in AI systems, along with the energy and water demands created by massive data centers.

The Wire wrote that the Department of Education needs time to honestly evaluate what AI is doing to student learning, privacy, mental health, classroom relationships, and even its environmental costs before making it part of everyday instruction. Researchers have raised questions about whether AI weakens critical thinking and creativity. Privacy advocates warn that many AI systems collect enormous amounts of student data. Others point to growing evidence of bias in AI systems, along with the energy and water demands created by massive data centers. Those concerns—and more—are outlined by the coalition supporting the petition. “Reasonable people can disagree about where AI belongs in education. Some argue students need to learn how to use it because it will shape the future workforce. That’s a debate worth having. But shouldn’t that debate happen before AI becomes deeply embedded in the nation’s largest school system?” So far the petition has gathered 5,000 signatures.

The Chicago Teachers Union House of Delegates passed last a recent resolution demanding strict limits on classroom technology, including a ban on student-facing AI in elementary schools, restrictions on human-simulating chatbots for children under 16, FERPA-backed student data privacy, and protections ensuring educators cannot be forced to use AI tools.

“It’s why the CTU has a contract that requires CPS to bargain with us about AI uses and abuses and we’ll begin forming a member-led taskforce to do just that. It comes right on time as we hear of administrators misusing AI to conduct their REACH evaluation scoring. Make it make sense,” the CTU stated in a Members Bulletin.

According to education writer and activist Lois Weiner, the American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten has not joined the AI fight. “Given Weingarten’s uncritical, public embrace of tech moguls’ aims in pushing AI, which, as I explain elsewhere, is inseparable from her campaign to link education to the economy and ignores great threats posed by this strategy,” Weiner wrote in an article entitled “A New Vision to privatize public education has taken root in NYC. It’s based on data and is the plan for our future. What we need to know and do to make AFT and NEA reverse course to stop it.”