As the Trump administration seeks to improve American education through Artificial Intelligence, United States Parents Involved in Education, a nationwide coalition pushing to restore parental authority over their children’s education, is urging caution.
“AI is an up-and-coming technology, important in the tech growth business. However, use of this technology should be very, very limited in Pre-K-8. Books, paper, pencils, and cursive have been proven to be far more effective teaching tools,” USPIE Founder and President Sheri Few said in a statement to The Christian Post.
“Consider the expensive, private Waldorf Schools where many tech execs send their kids. No technology in K-8! They want them to think for themselves and learn to express themselves without a cyber crutch. Think about that!”
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The group’s warning comes as some 68 technology companies, including Google, Amazon, Dell, Intel, Microsoft and NVIDIA, signed on to the administration’s “Pledge to America’s Youth: Investing in AI Education.”
These companies have pledged to develop early interest in AI technology by promoting AI literacy and proficiency through “comprehensive AI training for educators.”
“We pledge to invest in America’s K-12 students and teachers by providing resources that cultivate the skills and knowledge necessary for an AI-ready workforce and the next generation of American innovators,” the pledge states.
“Specifically, over the next 4 years, we pledge to make available resources for youths and teachers through funding and grants, educational materials and curricula, technology and tools, teacher professional development programs, workforce development resources, and/or technical expertise and mentorship.”
President Donald Trump signed an executive order in April to establish a comprehensive national framework for preparing American students for the workforce of the future and spurring innovation in American Artificial Intelligence.
“By establishing a strong framework that integrates early student exposure with comprehensive teacher training and other resources for workforce development, we can ensure that every American has the opportunity to learn about AI from the earliest stages of their educational journey through postsecondary education,” Trump notes in the order, billed Advancing Artificial Intelligence Education for American Youth.
Fostering a culture of innovation and critical thinking, the order explains, “will solidify our Nation’s leadership in the AI-driven future.”
The National Assessment of Educational Progress, a congressionally mandated test designed to measure the general state of education nationally, painted a grim picture of student performance at both the fourth and eighth-grade levels in reading and math.
More than half of fourth graders nationwide have not yet mastered reading at a proficient level for their grade. Students considered proficient is 2 percentage points lower than it was two years earlier.
Few believes parents should be “skeptical and vigilant” about the push for AI in the classrooms because, “Government schools have already been using iPads, increasing the public’s cost while offloading teaching, with no proven improvement in student achievement.”
AI can also be used to push agendas, she argues, with little to no input from parents.
“USPIE recently reported that an AI chatbot advised a girl not to tell her parents that she wants to become a boy and that she should seek guidance from pretty much anybody but her parents,” Few said. “Although technology dependency has increased greatly in recent years, student achievement in reading and math continues to crater. Meanwhile, children are exposed to Silicon Valley’s idea of morality — anything goes.”
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