Randi Weingarten backs crackdown on classroom technology, AI restrictions, and a tax on Big Tech

“Sign up for Chalkbeat’s free weekly newsletter to keep up with how education is changing across the U.S. Calling for classroom screen time limits, a tax on big tech companies, and a ban on student-facing artificial intelligence in elementary schools, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten urged a unified, nationwide strategy to curb technology use in schools. Labeling technology as a “major reason” young people “are drowning,” Weingarten said the Trump administration has turned away from its core responsibilities in American education. In a nearly hour-long speech at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, Weingarten also laid out a 10-point plan she said would boost learning in an “age of AI.” “What I’m calling for is getting the balance right to harness the benefits of technology while mitigating the harms,” she said. Like many education leaders and officials, Weingarten is walking a tightrope when it comes to AI and education. She’s simultaneously encouraging its use by teachers while lamenting how it may encourage students to rely on AI for thinking and tasks they’d otherwise do in school, a process she called “cognitive offloading.” The warning from Weingarten that unleashing AI in the classroom without intention will have disruptive effects comes a year after the AFT announced a partnership with OpenAI and Microsoft to provide training to its members. At the time, Weingarten said in a press conference that teachers faced “huge challenges” in navigating AI “wisely, ethically and safely.” “The question was whether we would be chasing it or whether we would be trying to harness it,” she said in July 2025. Weingarten described concerns over AI’s effects on learning and the recent backlash to screen time in schools as common causes. In calling for a complete ban on screens in classrooms from prekindergarten to second grade as well as on the use of student-facing AI for young students, Weingarten cited research from neuroscientist Jared Cooney Horvath, who has become one of the most prominent voices in the movement to ban software he’s deemed harmful to learning . Even so, Weingarten said the technology likely has a place in education. “I’m wary of the dangers of AI, but it is here to stay. We need enforceable guardrails, and we need to question the destruction to people’s lives, but that’s not enough,” she said. “It is equally essential to make sure educators understand AI and have a say in its use in education and in our profession.” Just a day before Weingarten’s remarks calling for a ban on student-facing AI in elementary schools, Newark Public Schools issued a press release about her visit to the school district to see how elementary students were using Khanmigo, an AI-powered chatbot. Although the creator of Khanmigo has expressed disappointment with the chatbot’s performance in schools , Newark students praised the technology, and Weingarten in the release said she spent time learning how schools were integrating the technology into their classrooms. On Wednesday, she used a much more negative tone about AI. “Students need their teachers, real human beings, not robots, and not chatbots,” she said. One of the elements of her 10-point plan is a tax on the earnings of big tech companies to “ensure they pay their fair share for the adverse and disruptive consequences” on Americans, including workers displaced because of AI. The AFT leader said that Microsoft and OpenAI have agreed “in principle to our overarching tenets and standards.” But Andrew Crook, a spokesperson for AFT, said Wednesday after her speech that did not mean they’d agreed to the tax part of the plan — the labor union did not ask the corporations about that, he said. Other parts of her 10-point plan include: A redesign of schooling to prioritize active learning, including project-based and more career-oriented education. Weingarten specifically said that should include redesigning accountability systems to measure student progress to match this priority. “A new gold standard for safety and privacy” in the use of AI. Weingarten said providers who don’t meet such standards shouldn’t be eligible to be used in K-12 classrooms. An independent research consortium to examine AI’s effects on education and technology’s effects on students. Weingarten suggested that the consortium should be funded through public and philanthropic dollars. Lily Altavena is a national reporter at Chalkbeat. Contact Lily at laltavena@chalkbeat.org .

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