U.S. schools are pouring billions into artificial intelligence, but districts face growing challenges in deciding which tools actually improve learning while protecting student data and safety.
WEBDESK – HAJIRA IRFAN – NJNEWSLINE
As students return to classrooms, artificial intelligence is becoming an increasingly common part of school life. From identifying students who may be struggling with coursework to tracking attendance and supporting reading instruction, schools are experimenting with AI in several ways.
But behind the growing excitement is a difficult question: Are schools getting enough value from the billions being spent on education technology?
School districts are facing an expanding market of AI-powered tools, while educators and technology experts say many systems still lack the resources and guidance needed to determine which products are genuinely useful.
Mark Schneider, a nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, told Stateline that technology companies typically know much more about their products than the districts considering buying them. That information gap can make it difficult for schools to distinguish effective tools from expensive products that offer little educational benefit.
Billions Are Flowing Into Education Technology
The financial stakes are substantial.
Grand View Research estimates that the U.S. education technology market, which includes computers, software and digital content, generated nearly $48 billion in revenue in 2024. The market is projected to surpass $90 billion by 2030.
The U.S. AI-in-education market is also expanding rapidly. It generated approximately $2.5 billion in revenue last year and is expected to exceed $15 billion by 2033, according to the research firm.
For school districts operating under financial pressure, that growth makes the decision over which AI products to purchase increasingly important.
The issue is no longer simply whether schools should adopt artificial intelligence. Districts also have to determine whether a particular system can produce meaningful educational improvements that justify its cost.
Some Districts Are Testing Before Making Bigger Investments
Sumner County Schools in Tennessee is taking a cautious approach.
Superintendent Scott Langford said the district began exploring AI after reading scores among middle school students stopped making progress. Officials wanted to see whether AI could provide students with immediate feedback while helping teachers identify learning difficulties during regular classroom instruction.
The district initially tested Course mojo, an AI-powered literacy platform, through a five-day trial in one sixth-grade classroom. The pilot was later expanded to approximately half of the district’s sixth-grade classrooms.
Langford said the most useful AI systems are not necessarily those designed to replace teachers. Instead, he sees greater value in tools that help educators understand student performance more quickly.
Sumner County has continued using Course mojo after the pilot.
Protecting Student Data Is a Major Concern
Educational effectiveness is only one consideration.
Districts also have to determine how AI companies handle sensitive student information.
Allentown School District in Pennsylvania uses a two-stage review process before approving AI programs. Student safety and data security are among its key requirements.
The district requires vendors to agree that user-generated information and chat records remain the district’s property. Vendors must also explicitly state that student information will not be sold or used to train AI models.
Superintendent Carol Birks said districts are increasingly being asked to handle complicated AI decisions themselves.
Although some school systems have developed internal review procedures, she said additional state-level guidance could help districts navigate the rapidly changing technology landscape.
States and School Systems Are Creating Their Own Rules
Some education authorities have started developing frameworks to help schools evaluate AI.
Pennsylvania’s Department of Education advises schools to examine who controls information entered into AI systems, review third-party data-sharing practices and limit data collection to what is necessary.
New York City Public Schools has also expanded its privacy and security review process for AI tools. Its requirements include greater transparency from vendors and restrictions on using student information to train AI models.
Chicago Public Schools has introduced an AI guidebook and has taken steps to block unapproved third-party AI products from its network.
The Southern Regional Education Board has also created an AI procurement and evaluation checklist for K-12 schools.
However, experts say these efforts do not completely solve the problem because AI development is moving faster than many school systems can evaluate new products.
Schools Already Face a Technology Overload
AI is entering classrooms that are already crowded with digital platforms.
An Instructure report found that districts had access to an average of 3,001 digital tools, while students and educators used only about four tools on average.
The disparity suggests that schools may have accumulated large numbers of technology products without determining which ones actually make a measurable difference.
Tracy Weeks, a senior director at Instructure, described the situation as a form of “digital hoarding,” with districts now reconsidering which technologies they should keep and which ones they can eliminate.
At the same time, shrinking budgets and the expiration of federal pandemic-era funding are forcing school systems to examine technology purchases more carefully.
Experts Warn Against Buying Into the AI Hype
Education specialists say schools should not adopt AI simply because the technology is attracting attention.
Janice Mak, an associate director at Arizona State University’s Learning Engineering Institute, said districts should consider whether a tool is accessible, understandable, grounded in learning science and designed to address an actual educational need.
There are also concerns about AI bias.
Mak described a middle school teacher who noticed that an AI system appeared to unfairly penalize or misinterpret English-learning students. The teacher used the experience to help students understand algorithmic bias and how AI systems are trained.
The situation demonstrates why human oversight remains important when AI is used with students.
What Schools Need to Consider
Before approving an AI tool, districts are being urged to look beyond vendors’ marketing claims and determine whether the technology addresses a genuine educational need, improves student learning, protects student information and can be properly monitored by teachers. Experts also say schools should consider accessibility, potential bias and whether the cost is justified by measurable results.
Sue Thotz, director of outreach for Common Sense Education, said expecting individual districts to independently determine whether every technology vendor meets privacy and legal requirements can place an enormous burden on school systems that are already stretched thin.
The challenge for schools, therefore, goes beyond deciding whether artificial intelligence belongs in the classroom.
With billions of dollars entering the education technology market, districts now face a tougher task: separating genuinely useful AI from the hype , and making sure expensive technology actually delivers something students and teachers can use.
