A New York state teacher’s union is calling for developmentally appropriate limits on educational technology across New York schools.
The New York State United Teachers’ 82-member board of directors passed a resolution targeting screen time and student-facing artificial intelligence (AI), the union announced on May 31. The union’s resolution focuses especially on younger students and calls for educators, parents, and families to guide classroom technology decisions – not technology companies.
Specifically, the resolution calls for:
- No one-to-one screen or device use for students in prekindergarten through second grade, except to support students with documented needs such as translation or special education services
- Paper-and-pencil assessment options for all students
- No student-facing AI for students in prekindergarten through second grade
- No non-educational AI for students in grades three through eight
- No “social companion” chatbots for children under 16
- AI use at any grade level that is supervised, educator-led, and designed to support critical thinking, digital literacy, and civic readiness – not to replace human instruction, creativity, or judgment
“Educators are not anti-technology. We are pro-child,” NYSUT President Melinda Person said. “Every decision made in the name of innovation must actually serve the students in our classrooms, and NYSUT will lead that fight.”
NYSUT said it plans to work with parents, experts, community partners, and other organizations to help shape state and national discussions on the role of technology in learning, particularly for younger students.
The resolution follows a 10-point framework to support teaching and learning in the AI era. The framework was released last week by American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten, who called for a “devices-down, eyes-up, hands-on” strategy for public education. The framework calls for no screens, including online assessments, for students in prekindergarten through second grade unless there is a compelling reason, and no student-facing AI in elementary schools.
“What President Weingarten outlined is a vision we are proud to stand behind, and New York has both the opportunity and the obligation to make it real,” Person said. “This isn’t a debate about whether technology belongs in schools. The question is who decides how it’s used: educators and families, or EdTech companies with billions of dollars at stake? The answer has to be us.”
Several states have introduced legislation to limit technology use in the classroom. For example, a bill proposed in Tennessee to prohibit students in grades K-5 from accessing digital devices while in the classroom. The bill was signed into law in April.
In New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul advanced legislation – dubbed the bell-to-bell cellphone ban – which created a statewide standard for phone-free school environments.
According to NYSUT, this legislation created a momentum the union intends to build on.
