An article from The Harvard Gazette titled “How AI Could Radically Change Education by 2050” suggests that not only will education change radically, but the way we currently do school will “seem totally old-fashioned.”
While the method of education as we know it may change, policymakers need to ensure one particularly crucial, old-fashioned principle remains protected: the fundamental role of parents in K-12 education.
AI may change how education is delivered and even open new areas for study, but the fundamental legal right of a parent to guide their child’s education still applies. This can be supported by protecting education choice and transparency in the age of AI.
Education choice supersedes different approaches to AI
Because parents have different opinions about AI use in education, education choice should be protected and expanded.
For instance, some parents may be cautious about AI tools and choose a low-tech approach to education, while others may be eager to have their students use AI to prepare them for the future. Some parents may even be intrigued by AI’s potential to help with homeschooling. Whatever parents feel, they deserve options.
According to 2024 EdChoice survey data, about two-thirds of current school parents believe schools should teach the responsible use of AI in school. Responses varied slightly depending on whether parents had their children enrolled in district public schools, charter schools, private schools, or homeschool. The highest support came from parents of students in private schools, with 79% saying they agree that responsible use of AI should be taught in school. But parents who enrolled their kids elsewhere had differing degrees of support.
This point was highlighted at an AI in education panel hosted by The Policy Circle in Phoenix last week, where panelists shared somewhat different views on how to think about AI and student learning. One panelist emphasized the need for a return to knowledge, specifically classical knowledge, to prepare students for the AI age. She pointed to low reading proficiency rates (as recent NAEP scores underscore) to demonstrate that students first need to gain basic knowledge before they worry about AI tools.
Another panelist emphasized the role of parental choice in the AI era, rather than defining whether education should or should not incorporate AI to achieve student learning. The idea being that while some parents might not want to incorporate AI into education, others might. She pointed to her own siblings, who had differing interests and ultimately pursued different careers, and to how technology played a distinct role for each of them.
This philosophical debate about what an education should include points to the prudence of education options in the first place. The fact that people can have such different perspectives highlights the wisdom in leaving questions about how to educate children to parents, including when and how to use AI.
Parents deserve transparency about AI in education
What makes parents good decision-makers and partners in education is information, which, especially in public schools, requires transparency. Just as parents deserve to know what their children are learning in school, so too they deserve to understand whether and how AI is being used in their child’s classroom.
A summer 2025 Institute for Family Studies article discusses concerns about schools using technology without clear parental notice or consent (notwithstanding federal student privacy laws). It extends this warning to the proliferation of AI use in schools.
According to a recent national poll, nearly 70% of parents don’t want grades and other personal information put into AI software. Furthermore, the poll showed that parent support for using AI to practice standardized testing or for tutoring dropped between 2024 and 2025.
To avoid AI in education becoming a source of fear and distrust before its benefits are fully realized, there should be a proactive approach to reach out to parents about student privacy laws and AI use. From there, they can make informed choices for their students. State boards, local districts, and public schools ought to make concerted efforts to offer resources and awareness. If not, they may pay for the loss of trust from parents over time.
Conclusion
While education leaders are embracing the exciting potential of AI in schools, with its promising new possibilities and challenges, one thing ought to hold steady: the protected role of parents in their child’s education.
