Hall Pass: Your Ticket to Understanding School Board Politics, Edition #121

By

Ballotpedia staff

Welcome to Hall Pass, a newsletter written to keep you plugged into the conversations driving school board politics and governance.

In today’s edition, you’ll find:

  • Talking AI and education with Missouri School Boards’ Association Director of Digital Initiatives Mark Henderson
  • On the issues: The debate over AI tutors 
  • In your district: AI policies
  • Extracurricular: education news and numbers from around the web
  • School board filing deadlines, election results, and recall certifications
  • Candidate Connection survey

Reply to this email to share reactions or story ideas!

Talking AI and education with Missouri School Boards’ Association Director of Digital Initiatives Mark Henderson 

In late 2022, OpenAI, a research organization based in California, released ChatGPT into the world. Since then, generative AI tools, and the debates about how to use them, have seeped into nearly every area of life—including, of course, education and schools. These tools, most often presented as online chat programs, can answer questions, compose essays, analyze data, code software, generate images, and more.

Teachers and district leaders have wrestled with how to respond. Many districts, including some of the largest in the country, at first moved to block student access to AI tools, citing concerns over cheating. However, many of those districts have since repealed their bans, and are now trying to figure out ways to harness AI to benefit student learning. 

To help us understand the challenges around AI in K-12 education, I talked with Mark Henderson, the Director of Digital Initiatives at the Missouri School Boards’ Association (MSBA). The MSBA recently released the AI for K-12 Education Toolkit, a resource for helping school boards, administrators, teachers, and parents understand AI in schools. The Toolkit includes chapters explaining how AI tools work, what AI policies and procedures can look like, and how districts can navigate concerns about ethics and equity.  

We’ve covered debates over AI in classrooms in previous editions of Hall Pass. Click here and here to read those arguments. Additionally, Ballotpedia recently released its free AI Deepfake Legislation Tracker, allowing you to follow the latest developments in all 50 states.

Below, you will find excerpts from my interview with Mark. Click here to read the full conversation, where we discuss the challenges around equitable access to AI technologies, the debate over cellphones in classrooms, examples of real-world district AI policies, and some of Mark’s favorite AI learning tools. 

Samuel Wonacott: Let’s begin with the AI Toolkit for K-12 Education. Tell us about the Toolkit, what went into putting it together, and why you felt such a resource was necessary to release at this time.

Mark Henderson: The toolkit is a comprehensive guide to what schools need to know and consider about AI. This includes sections on understanding AI, policy & procedures, safety, ethics, and more. We saw a need for a go-to place to collect and provide this information. While there’s been a lot of work done at the college level on AI, we’re not seeing much activity in the K-12 world. We feel this topic is vital for schools to address NOW, so we decided to take the lead. We’ve done a lot of research and training on AI in the past year, and that information is encompassed in our toolkit.

SW: There has been a lot of talk about AI and cheating. What’s your take on how schools can maintain academic integrity in the age of AI?

MH: Cheating isn’t a new issue. The only difference is that students now have AI tools at their fingertips. Schools need to educate their students on when it’s okay and not okay to use AI tools to assist with their schoolwork. These rules need to be defined in policies and communicated. Just like calculators in math class, there is a right time and a wrong time to use AI.

SW: Do you have any examples of districts that are thinking outside the box with their AI policies?

MH: The Lindbergh, MO School District has really hit the ground running with AI. They’ve adopted MSBA’s Missouri School Boards’ Association AI policy and launched their own AI chatbot for staff and student use. This gives their students hands-on experience with AI while protecting their data and keeping them safe. Shoutout to their AI Coordinator, Colin Davitt, for his incredible work!

SW: You mentioned the Missouri School Boards’ Association’s AI policy. Could you tell us a little about that?

MH: Our policy (which can be found in the AI Toolkit) focuses on a “cautious embrace” of AI. We hope districts will use proper safety and data protections to ensure their students and staff can use AI tools responsibly. Our policy has districts appoint an AI Coordinator who is responsible for monitoring and regulating the district’s AI usage. The policy also has districts create an AI Use Plan that can be easily adapted as technologies change. While policy takes time to update, a use plan can be updated immediately to address district needs. 

SW: What advice would you give to school leaders who are just starting to think about implementing AI in their districts?

MH: Start by educating yourself and your stakeholders on AI, the opportunities it provides the education world, and the concerns that come along with it. Also look at your current policies and see how they may be impacted by AI – think plagiarism, bullying, technology use, etc. Even if you don’t want to rush into a full-blown AI policy, you can adjust current policies to address immediate concerns.

Click here to read the rest of the conversation. 

On the issues: The debate over AI tutors

In this section, we curate reporting, analysis, and commentary on the issues school board members deliberate when they set out to offer the best education possible in their district. Missed an issue? Click here to see the previous education debates we’ve covered.

Should schools and teachers use AI tools (artificial intelligence) to supplement instruction and tutor students?

Thomas Howell writes that AI tutors are not effective because learning is primarily social, not mechanical. Howell says students’ psychological needs are not being sufficiently met and AI cannot help with that problem.

Peter Coy writes that AI tutors can help customize lessons for students based on their abilities and interests, improving education. Coy says AI can also provide data for parents and teachers to better help students learn.

AI will never substitute teachers. This failed experiment shows why | Thomas Howell, Fast Company

“[T]he vision riding on AI’s potential is not new but rather the latest in a long line of ideas of how to ‘scale’ the scarce resource that is the attention of an expert educator. Especially here in the United States. The history of the American educational system is the history of industrialization, increasing leverage, and lowering the cost per student—from tutoring to small classrooms to large classrooms to online courses. And with AI tutors, potentially replacing the human outright. … So might an AI tutor produce the same positive psychological changes in its students that effective human teachers do? Early evidence is far from promising. … Against the backdrop of an unassailable mission, millions in funding, and near-complete business collapse, there are essentially no signs that the AI chatbot came close to supporting students’ psychological needs in their schooling.”

Yes, A.I. Can Be Really Dumb. But It’s Still a Good Tutor. | Peter Coy, New York Times

“I’m optimistic, though, that artificial intelligence will turn (some) haters into fans. A.I. can custom-make lessons based on each student’s ability, learning style and even outside interests. For example, imagine teaching ratios by showing a Yankees fan how to update Aaron Judge’s batting average. A.I. can also give teachers and parents the detailed information they need to help their young charges more effectively. As I wrote last month, there’s a risk that A.I. will substitute for human labor and eventually render us all superfluous. How much better it would be for us to have A.I. teach us, developing our strengths so that A.I. becomes a complement rather than a substitute for human labor. … My bottom line for it … is that the use of devices and apps in school ‘should be driven by educators, not tech companies.’”

In your district: AI policies

We want to hear what’s happening in your school district. Please complete the very brief survey below—anonymously, if you prefer—and we may share your response with fellow subscribers in an upcoming newsletter.

What is your opinion on how districts should approach the use of AI tools in classrooms?

Click here to respond!

Extracurricular: education news and numbers from around the web

This section contains links to recent education-related articles from around the internet. If you know of a story we should be reading, reply to this email to share it with us! 

School board update: filing deadlines, election results, and recall certifications

This year, Ballotpedia will cover elections for over 11,000 school board seats across more than 30 states. We’re expanding our coverage each year with our eye on the country’s more 80,000 school board seats.  

Upcoming school board elections

Minnesota

Ballotpedia will cover the nonpartisan primary for an at-large seat on the Minneapolis Board of Education on Aug. 13 in Minnesota. Three candidates are running in the election—incumbent Kim Ellison, Elena Condos, and Shayla Owodunni. Ellison was first elected in 2012.

The two candidates who receive the most votes will advance to the Nov. 5 general election.

Minneapolis Public Schools is the third-largest in Minnesota, with an estimated enrollment of around 29,000 students. 

Oklahoma

Ballotpedia will cover a special general election runoff in Oklahoma on Aug. 27 for a seat on the Sequoyah Public Schools school board. Greg Perry and Lyndsey Young are running in the election. Perry and Young ran in the April 2 special general election, but a lawsuit over voting irregularities resulted in a new election date. Preliminary vote tallies showed Perry with 225 votes to Young’s 222.

After reviewing the voter registries, Young challenged the results, which revealed 10 irregular votes due to a mixture of out-of-district voters and one person voting twice.  

On April 11, District Court Judge Lara Russell upheld Young’s challenge. Election officials sent a letter to Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) the following day requesting a new election be held on Aug. 27.

In her order, Russell cited a 1991 Oklahoma Supreme Court case, Jackson v. Maley, which established that a court may order a redo election if the number of irregular votes is larger than the margin of victory. Click here to read about noteworthy redo elections. 

Sequoyah Public Schools is located northeast of Tulsa and has an estimated student population of 1,300 students. 

Take our Candidate Connection survey to reach voters in your district

Today, we’re taking a look at surveys from Mishell Williams (D) and Greg Mills (R), two of eight candidates running in the Nov. 5 election for four at-large seats on the Cabarrus County Schools school board in North Carolina. 

Mills advanced from the March 5 Republican primary with 21.5% of the vote. Melanie Freeman (19.7%), Catherine Bonds Moore (19%), and incumbent Rob Walter (18.2%) also advanced. The Democratic primary was canceled because only four candidates—including incumbent Keshia Sandidge, Rob Cerulo, and Namu Kachroo—entered the race. 

Cabarrus County Schools is the eighth-largest district in North Carolina, with approximately 34,810 students.

Here’s how Williams answered the question, “What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?”

  • “My teaching philosophy has always been centered around ensuring that the educational environment is conducive to the whole child: physical, social, emotional, mental, & academic. We must ensure that all students, regardless of their background, have access to high-quality education, resources & opportunities. I believe the curriculum and standards must be rigorous & instruction must be differentiated to meet each learner’s unique learning style. Special education supports are very important as we focus on enhancing services for students with disabilities & providing resources for educators. We must also encourage Parent involvement and offer students vocation and hands-on career training to enhance skill development.”

Click here to read more of Williams’ responses. 

Here’s how Mills answered the question, “What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?”

  • “I believe that public schools need to simplify. Well-intentioned or not, we’re trying to provide services to students that are outside the scope of education. Even worse, some schools have tried to usurp the role of parents and driven a wedge between themselves and the families they were created to serve. I believe that public education, when it is done well, makes the American Dream accessible to every child. Our community can be united around the mission of making sure every student in Cabarrus County graduates prepared to go on to college or enter rewarding career.”

Click here to read more of Mills’ responses. 
If you’re a school board candidate or incumbent, click here to take the survey. If you’re not running for school board, but there is an election in your community this year, share the link with the candidates and urge them to take the survey!