As millions of students head back to the classroom, new research shows a growing majority of U.S. voters are concerned about the impact of artificial intelligence technologies on learning – and want policymakers in Washington to act to establish better safeguards.
The research, led by the progressive think tank The Century Foundation (TCF) and shared exclusively with Scripps News, finds that bipartisan majorities of voters view the federal government as acting too slowly to address the proliferation of AI tools in K-12 schools.
“People were quite united,” TCF President Julie Margetta Morgan, who previously worked in the Biden administration’s Dept. of Education, told Scripps News. “Every type of concern that we tested related to technology. Are you worried about students using AI to complete their assignments? Are you worried about them being prepared for a job market using AI? Are you worried about students' mental health with relationship to tech? — they all tested at 80% or more, so there's really broad concern across the board.”
And in contrast with most other issues today, such concerns were consistent across political backgrounds, with slightly more Republicans indicating support for stronger regulations than Democrats: 77% of all voters polled want stricter rules to limit AI use in school or the government to set stronger standards concerning how such tools are used, the poll found, including 76% of Democrats and 80% of Republicans.
“We saw a very broad, bipartisan desire for the government to step in and to create some really basic rules of the road,” Margetta Morgan said.
AI in the classroom: a “Wild West”
Across the country, students and teachers alike acknowledge AI tools have already proliferated throughout the classroom.
“Students are using AI whether I like it or not, it’s kind of the way it is now,” Angela Hardin, a high school English teacher at Model Laboratory School in Richmond, Kentucky, recently told the Scripps News Group.
“I can ask it anything, and it’ll give me an answer,” Sophia Mahajerin, a junior at Forest Hills Eastern High School in Ada, Michigan, said of the new technologies. “But I think one of the negatives is that I’ve become very reliant.”
The Trump administration, so far, has taken a mostly hands-off approach to regulating educational AI use – focusing instead on encouraging its uptake.
Last year, President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at increasing AI adoption in schools by both students and teachers.
“It is the policy of the United States to promote AI literacy and proficiency among Americans by promoting the appropriate integration of AI into education, providing comprehensive AI training for educators, and fostering early exposure to AI concepts and technology to develop an AI-ready workforce and the next generation of American AI innovators,” the order noted.
The order established the ”Presidential Artificial Intelligence Challenge,” designed to “encourage and highlight student and educator achievements in AI, promote wide geographic adoption of technological advancement, and foster collaboration between government, academia, philanthropy, and industry to address national challenges with AI solutions,” as well as the “White House Task Force on AI Education,” which named senior government leaders across federal agencies to coordinate federal initiatives and public-private partnerships.
That task force has met at least three times so far, with the most recent public information about the group shared in December of 2025, though officials have released few details as to the outcomes from those meetings or intended next steps.
In communications with educators and the broader public, Department of Education officials have laid out some guidelines for states and localities interested in applying for federal grants to promote AI use in the classroom, but otherwise argued specific rules about AI usage should be developed at the state and local level.
“The question before education leaders is not whether technology can support learning, but whether individual tools are selected, implemented, and evaluated in ways that advance specific education goals,” Assistant Secretary of Elementary and Secondary Education Kirsten Baesler wrote earlier this month. “The U.S. Department of Education believes these decisions are best made by states and local communities, with input from parents and teachers.”
Despite the administration’s approach, the TCF research shows Americans are interested in regulation at all levels – by state and local jurisdictions but also the federal government. The poll, conducted by MorningConsult from May 21-24 among a sample of 2,002 registered voters in the U.S., asked some respondents whether they supported more regulations from their “local school district” and others whether they wanted more action from the “federal government.” The questions drew “nearly identical results,” according to TCF officials.
“I think it just really speaks to the level of concern that parents have about the role of technology, and also to that sense that there just really aren't any rules here,” Margetta Morgan said.
“Making sure that we’re embracing AI”
There are some longstanding federal laws that govern some aspects of student privacy – but none were designed for the AI era.
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), enacted in 1974, requires educational institutions receiving federal funds to maintain legal control over student education records and limits the disclosure of personally identifiable information without consent. Meanwhile, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), passed in 1998, restricts commercial companies from collecting or using personal data from children under 13 without verifiable consent.
McMahon’s letter highlighting the requirements for institutions applying for Trump administration AI educational grants noted specifically that they “must comply with federal privacy laws,” including FERPA.
Yet privacy advocates argue both laws contain loopholes in the context of modern AI. FERPA and COPPA primarily protect "personally identifiable information," meaning companies can train AI models on raw, anonymized student data without violating either law. And COPPA allows schools to grant consent on behalf of parents for classroom technology — giving districts broad authority to approve AI tools without parental sign-off, provided the data is used strictly for educational purposes.
“We're really in the ‘Wild West’ here,” Margetta Morgan said. “With both data collection through ed-tech apps and also the use of AI, those rules aren't really equipped for modern situations. Parents and teachers are both finding that there are some places where there would be basic rules of the road, and they really don't exist.”
Asked about such concerns during a brief interview with Scripps News at the White House on Monday, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said officials in her agency “haven't really talked about regulating [AI].”
“What we are talking about is making sure that we're embracing AI,” McMahon continued. “We need to embrace this technology, but it has to have guardrails because it's very important that we understand that AI cannot replace a teacher in the classroom.”
Asked separately about the research showing Americans’ desire for stricter rules, a spokesperson for the Department of Education pointed Scripps News to earlier comments from McMahon on Sunday on CNN, during which the Secretary argued parents should be able to opt their children out of using AI tools in some situations.
“If the parent is not seeing [a positive] outcome, the parent has every right to go in and say, ‘No, I want something different for my child,’” she said.
The White House did not respond to Scripps News’ inquiries about the president’s approach to AI in schools or Americans’ concerns about the technology.
