AI in School – Should Parents Be Able to Opt Out?

Artificial intelligence, or AI, isn’t going away. In fact, it's expanding faster than you can type a prompt into a search bar. It is becoming increasingly common in our everyday lives, finding its way into our homes, workplaces, and even classrooms. More and more, teachers are relying on AI as an instructional tool amid a growing push to teach children AI literacy. The use of AI in schools has raised an important question for parents: Should they be allowed to opt their children out of AI use in the classroom, and if so, is it even the right choice?

The Use of AI in Schools

Last year, President Donald Trump signed an executive order titled "Advancing Artificial Intelligence Education for American Youth." The order established the White House Task Force on Artificial Intelligence Education and directed federal agencies to encourage AI education. The order included promoting AI literacy for students, developing educational resources for K-12 students, and encouraging AI-related apprenticeships, among other things. According to a White House press release:

“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, fostering a culture of innovation and critical thinking that will solidify our Nation’s leadership in the AI-driven future.”

According to the federal National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), 47% of public schools reported instructing some or all students about AI during the 2024-2025 school year. In higher grade levels, 72% of high school and secondary schools reported the same.

Schools are increasingly teaching AI literacy, which includes recognizing the limitations of artificial intelligence, as well as its faults. Some of the lessons include explaining how to recognize AI hallucinations, misinformation, and bias; checking for reliable sources; and understanding when the technology shouldn’t be used.

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According to NCES, 69% of public-school leaders had a favorable view of teachers using AI for their work, and 42% viewed students using it for their education favorably. Not all educators were on board, though, with 31% holding an unfavorable view of student AI use. Would it improve learning? Just 38% agreed that integrating AI would lead to better educational outcomes for students, while 39% thought it could help students develop better critical-thinking skills.

Of course, it would be nice to be knowledgeable about a subject if you’re going to teach it. A 2026 Gallup/Walton Family Foundation study surveyed 2,069 public K-12 teachers between Feb. 9 and March 2 and found that only 18% of teachers had received formal guidance from administrators on how AI should be used. Another 48% said they received informal guidance, while 34% received no guidance at all. Perhaps even more concerning for parents is that 58% didn’t receive any type of instruction about AI for grading and providing student feedback.

What Might Opting Out Look Like?

There’s a big difference between a teacher using AI to create a worksheet and a child being required to interact directly with an AI system, which could happen during instruction on AI literacy. Not all schools use the technology in the same way, but some states are working on or have already implemented laws that control how AI can be used in classrooms, including whether parents can opt their children out.

Oklahoma passed SB 1734, the Oklahoma Responsible Technology in Schools Act, in May this year. It requires school districts to provide parents or guardians with a written disclosure at least once a year that tells them which AI tools are being used and the companies providing them, categories of student data that are collected, how that data is shared, and the educational purpose of each AI tool. It also gives parents the right to opt their children out of participating in student-facing AI tools at any time, and the students will not be academically penalized for doing so.

AI has already made its way into the classroom, and chances are it won’t be packing its digital bags anytime soon. The bigger challenge may be figuring out where it belongs, where it doesn’t, and who gets to make that call. As schools experiment with everything from AI literacy to tutoring and grading, parents may have some homework of their own: learning exactly how the technology is being used before deciding whether to embrace it or check the opt-out box.