Today pro-public school advocacy organization Illinois Families for Public Schools announced a Pledge to Protect Human-Centered Education. The organization is asking all Chicago Board of Education candidates to commit to the Pledge, which calls for policy actions on generative AI, screen use, biometric information and a Chief Privacy Officer. Full press release below.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 3, 2026
CONTACT
Illinois Families for Public Schools
[email protected]
ADVOCATES CALL ON CHICAGO SCHOOL BOARD CANDIDATES TO PLEDGE TO PROTECT HUMAN-CENTERED EDUCATION
FAMILIES, EDUCATORS DEMAND BOARD PRIORITIZE “KIDS OVER COMPUTERS!”
CHICAGO — Today pro-public school advocacy organization Illinois Families for Public Schools announced a Pledge to Protect Human-Centered Education. The organization is asking all candidates running for the Chicago Board of Education to commit to the Pledge. So far, 21 candidates have committed.
The Pledge has four components: 1) a three-year moratorium on generative AI use in Chicago Public Schools; 2) creation of a Chief Privacy Officer position for the district; 3) limits on screen time for all grades; and 4) a ban on biometric information collection.
Tech use in Chicago Public Schools (CPS) in and out of the classroom has increased rapidly in recent years—and along with it the collection and sharing of student data by for-profit companies. The district’s FY2027 budget for software and digital instructional materials is more than $50 million. But district policies have lagged in protecting students’ educational experience and their personal information.
For the first time ever, all members of the Chicago Board of Education, including an at-large Board President and 20 members representing subdistricts, will be chosen by voters in the November 3rd general election. Forty-five candidates remain on the ballot according to the Chicago Board of Elections; at least three candidates removed from the ballot are still planning to mount write-in campaigns.
The candidates who have committed to the Pledge as of August 3rd are: Ed Bannon (1a), Claudia Peralta (1b), Ebony DeBerry (2a), Kyna Lenhof (2b), Debby Pope (2b), Norma Rios Sierra (3a), Jason Dónes (3b), Angel Alvarez (4a), Karen Zaccor (4a), Jitu Brown (5a), Michilla Blaise (5b), Brenda Lee Anderson (6a), Anusha Thotakura (6a), Brittany Kimble (6b), Emma Lozano (7a), Katherine Dunneback (9b), Che Smith (10a), Tameka Walton (10a), Connie Anderson (10b), Rosita Chatonda (10b), Hilario Domínguez (President).
Jen Jones, board member of Illinois Families for Public Schools and parent of two CPS graduates said, "As we move to a fully elected school board, I want the assurance that candidates are committed to protecting human-centered education for students, especially for our most vulnerable learners. It is critical that our Board mitigates risk from the harms of generative AI. AI often contains bad information and biased data, lacks true accessibility features, and cannot replace human teachers or clinicians. Students need real empathy, from special education professionals, not AI chatbots that don’t fully understand human emotions and can’t determine when a child is in crisis.”
“AI technology is a rapidly evolving tool that has potential to do both great harm and great good for students and schools. We have a responsibility as a community to rigorously oversee this technology and not cede its implementation to profit-seeking corporations. The Pledge to Protect Human-Centered Education outlines concrete steps the district can take to oversee AI in Chicago Public Schools in a way that is transparent and will be a benefit to students, families, and teachers alike.” said Tara Donnelly, CPS librarian and member of the working group that drafted the Pledge.
Chicago Public Schools guidance on AI falls short
The Chicago Board of Education’s approved policies on AI are minimal, primarily directing students and staff to follow guidance in the CPS AI Guidebook, issued in the summer of 2024 and revised since.
The Guidebook was not developed with the input of students, families and teachers. It provides little in the way of specific procedures and directives for compliance to ensure that software incorporating generative AI technology does not harm CPS students’ privacy or quality of their education.
Concerningly, the Guidebook says that CPS software approval only means that products meet privacy and security requirements, but does “not reflect that the tool meets the District’s academic standards for verification, bias, fairness, or output quality.”
“Why are we rushing to push software into classrooms without any sense of its pedagogical value, effects on learning, or long term influence on students’ development? I have three children in CPS, and I know they only get one shot at this upcoming school year. This is their education, not a product development cycle,” said Charles Tocci, educator, CPS parent and member of the working group that drafted the Pledge.
Many products listed in CPS’s database of approved software make use of generative AI or share data with generative AI products, including Amira, Sibme, Snorkl, Brisk, DooWii, Parlay, Perplexity, Kami and multiple HMH products. (More details here.)
"When I told my daughter I was impressed with her reading, she told me her teachers are doing a great job. With all the challenges getting our district the resources it needs, why spend money on vendor contracts for AI agents? Experts and kindergartners agree that it's the people in the classroom that help kids learn, and that's where we should be investing," said Denali Dasgupta, CPS parent and also a member of the working group that drafted the Pledge.
Parents around the country, including in New York City and New Mexico, have been raising concerns about Amira, an AI learning agent for K-8 literacy.
“I don’t want my children, or anyone’s children, taught to read on an iPad by an AI chatbot, embedded in a product that is recording voice data for a tech company. Human children deserve human teachers and physical books. Anyone running for the Board of Ed needs to take a stand on these issues,” said Maggie Cullerton Hooper, CPS parent, local school council member and also a member of the working group that drafted the Pledge.
According to the Guidebook and another document obtained from the district via a FOIA request, “CPS AI Access Overview,” CPS is planning to give access to Google's general-purpose AI assistant Gemini to all high school students at the start of the 2026-2027 school year.
Cassie Creswell, executive director of Illinois Families for Public Schools and parent of a CPS student said, “CPS’ own AI guidance says Google Gemini isn’t ready and safe for student use. Why hasn’t there been any public discussion of the plan to roll out this product to every high school student in the district later this month? We need school board members who are willing to exercise oversight here.”
Policymakers elsewhere begin tackling AI and screen use in schools
Concern about overuse of 1:1 devices and screen time in public schools has escalated in recent months around the country. Bills to limit or remove screens from classrooms passed in four states this year and were under consideration in many more.
In June, the school board of Los Angeles United School District, the country’s second largest public school district, passed a policy that bans screen use altogether before second grade and imposes strict time limits for 2nd-12th grades, including both in-class and homework usage.
The Illinois General Assembly recently cracked down on non-school-owned devices in public schools with Governor Pritzker signing the cell phone ban into law last week. That legislation does not regulate school-owned devices though, and a national poll of teachers last year found that school-issued devices were a larger source of distraction than cellphones.
Worries about AI use in schools, especially generative AI technology, have also increased. In January, the Brookings Institute issued a report warning that AI tech was inappropriate for schools because “ the risks of utilizing generative AI in children’s education overshadow its benefits.”
Then in April, more than 280 organizations and experts called for a national five-year moratorium on the use of all student-facing generative AI in schools due to the threats it poses to education and the environment. A majority of New York’s City Council recently asked their Mayor to put a pause on AI use in New York City’s public schools in response to pressure from parents, students, educators and artists.
The Illinois State Board of Education issued guidance for the state’s school districts on artificial intelligence on June 30th to comply with legislation the General Assembly passed last spring. However, that guidance—itself written with the use of generative AI—does not pose any binding requirements on districts with respect to AI usage. Only 10 pages of the 400 page document focus on “District Policy, Governance, and Accountability.“
About Illinois Families for Public Schools
Illinois Families for Public Schools (IL-FPS) is a statewide, grassroots, non-profit 501c4 advocacy group founded in 2016. IL-FPS is the voice of public school families in Springfield and across the state, advocating to defend and improve Illinois public schools. More at ilfps.org.
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