AI in Education 2026-08-16

Ninety-eight teenagers wrote the AI school policy the adults have not — and it tells teachers to declare their own use

Ninety-eight high school students representing all 50 US states drafted the "STUDENTS FIRST Act", a national framework for AI in K-12 schools, at America's Youth AI Festival held in Boston on 17–19 July and set out this month by Education Week. For students it asks for mandatory AI literacy instruction, AI as a supplement rather than a way around the learning itself, protection from AI-enabled bullying, and the right to refuse AI with an alternative assignment offered. For teachers: AI may never be the sole determinant of a grade, AI policies belong in the syllabus, teachers must be transparent about their own AI use, and they should get regular training. For administrators: clear opt-out procedures, community consultation before adoption, and annual review. The event was co-hosted by the nonprofit Day of AI, MIT RAISE, the school superintendents' association AASA, and the Edward M. Kennedy Institute. It is a framework, not law.

Why it mattersClose to a hundred bills on AI in schools are moving through US state legislatures, and essentially all of them were written by adults, while survey after survey shows student and teacher use running far ahead of any policy. This is the first widely circulated statement of what students themselves are asking for — and it is not what the debate assumed. They are not asking for more access. They are asking for disclosure, a way to opt out without penalty, and the same transparency rules applied to the people grading them.

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Ninety-eight teenagers wrote the AI school policy the adults have not — and it tells teachers to declare their own use

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