A recent executive order, “Advancing Artificial Intelligence Education for American Youth,” raises serious concerns about the direction of public education in our country. Specifically, it raises questions about the safety of AI, the lack of focus on returning to academic excellence, and it illustrates quite clearly that the federal government is not taking a step back from public education even though control has now been passed to the states.
Many Americans anticipated the new administration because of a promise to rid public education of the Department of Education (DOE). While the DOE is no longer in power over public education, the federal government is still quite entrenched through influence in the form of grants and funding as made evident in a series of executive orders written since January. At the end of January, for example, the administration put out an EO regarding federal grant money that is available to states who comply and submit a state plan to implement School Choice™. Instead of allowing states to make decisions based on what citizens want, the federal government dangles the cash carrot knowing that state education funding is one of the biggest concerns. What better way to ensure compliance than the promise of money? Fast forward to April, and one of the latest education EOs concerns implementing AI into the K-12 classroom and it’s clear that the focus is on how this education benefits the workforce and Big Tech instead of how it will improve our abysmal academic performance across the nation. It is plainly clear as outlined in the Policy section of this EO that it is the Education Industrial Complex and the tech industry who benefit from this K-12 AI “literacy and proficiency,” not students.
The Background provided also paints a clear understanding of the real reasons for K-12 AI education: to further a tech-centric worldview where young children continue to be force fed education through technology rather than ensuring their academic success through literacy, math, history, and other core academic subjects. The EO clearly states that, “…we can ensure that every American has the opportunity to learn about AI from the earliest stages of their educational journey through postsecondary education, fostering a culture of innovation and critical thinking that will solidify our Nation’s leadership in the AI-driven future.” What about fostering a culture of literacy? What happened to the concern about the amount of screen time children receive both at home and at school. With two-thirds of children in America unable to read at a 4th grade reading level, how can children ever hope to be successful learning any subject–especially something as complicated as AI? The first priority should be literacy and fostering a culture where academic excellence is again the standard, not creating worker bees for the tech world.
The K-12 AI education EO perpetuates the current model for the American education system, a system built on the Prussian model which exists to control the population and benefit the state, or in this case line the pockets of Big Tech. The EO is full of concerns that should raise red flags for every citizen:
● The EO is packed with plenty of big government trappings: implementation in K-12 education, creation of a Task Force made up of cabinet members (the Feds), federal funding, and public-private partnerships, also known as “community-based organizations”
● ZERO mention of the hazards of AI and how to protect young children from the dangers of this fast-growing, invasive technology
● More professional development for educators taking away from the time necessary to teach core academic subjects
● A strange focus on making sure that our children become part of the AI worldview and using them to further the advancement of AI whether we like it or not
Americans–parents–need to be asking why the federal government still feels the need to be completely involved in public education while also proclaiming that public schools should be run at the state and local level. Where are the EOs concerning literacy and why aren’t self-proclaimed parental rights activists raising the alarm? Instead of breaking down the existing dysfunctional and broken public education system, the current administration seems to be perpetuating more of the same: a public education system that benefits the government, not students. If you are interested in breaking free from the government’s overreach into the education of your children, watch the replay of “Empowered to Educate: A Homeschool Revolution” hosted by Conservative Ladies of America for an inspiring live virtual event that brought together some of the most respected voices in the homeschool movement. This is your call to action: discover how YOU can reclaim your child’s education and join a growing revolution of parents choosing truth, freedom, and excellence in learning.