Growing backlash against AI in classrooms threatens Trump's education agenda

A conservative reaction is now causing complications for the Trump administration’s efforts to utilise artificial intelligence in American schools, as Republican states are increasingly introducing laws that limit the use of technology in the classroom.

While the White House is advocating for the use of AI in education, promoting Alpha School – a private educational network where kids study academics through AI technology for two hours a day – as a prime example of what the future holds, the First Lady of the United States is also actively spreading the word abroad. The President signed an executive order calling for AI education starting at kindergarten level and beyond, describing the technology race as key to competing with China.

Republican states, however, are doing the exact opposite. Florida now requires parental consent for the use of technology at school, while banning chatbots altogether. Laws prohibiting screen time or demanding parental notification were introduced in Utah, Oklahoma and Iowa. Even such conservative organisations as the Heritage Foundation and Manhattan Institute warn about dangers of using AI in children’s education.

In a poll conducted by The Century Foundation, 80 per cent of Republicans want restrictions on how AI can be used in the classroom by the government. In the same poll conducted by The New York Times/Siena, there was concern about the effect of AI in the school systems.

This debate is most intense when it comes to the Alpha School, which has said that students can learn 2.6 times faster by using AI. There have been no independent studies that support this claim. At least nine states have refused Alpha approval for publicly funded charter schools. Alpha has shifted its attention to the voucher program in Texas, which allows private schools receiving public funding to avoid being tested on performance.

The supporters of school choice have divided views with one group saying that parents must choose and other that schools receiving public funding must prove that their methodology works. The use of AI in schooling is bound to be a feature in the Republican presidential race in 2028.