An AI Strategy for Public Schools
How do we prepare students for a world that will be dominated by AI tools?
This article is part of a series connected to my run for the Conroe ISD Board of Trustees. I welcome you to follow me in this blog or at www.ryanforcisd.com.
As corporate America continues to grapple with how to handle the hype cycle around Artificial Intelligence (AI), which is both high hype and rapid cycle, there is an immediate need for public schools to implement policy and programs to support what will likely be a drastically different work environment in the next 10 years.
There are many, many articles and opinions on the path of AI and the future of humanity, but I have seen very few deep dives into how we prepare kids to utilize AI in a way that both supports their wellbeing and their prospects for a successful career.
In February 2026, Microsoft testified before the U.S. House Education & Workforce Subcommittee and provided interesting ideas that we will break down and expand in this post:
“Today, I will share insights we have gathered from teachers about their experiences, challenges, and needs as they integrate AI in education; outline the steps Microsoft and other organizations are taking to facilitate this transition; and recommend legislative approaches to help policymakers strengthen these efforts. These legislative approaches include supporting professional development for teachers; encouraging public-private partnerships; promoting AI literacy; providing guidance on responsible AI use; and supporting innovation.”
- Allyson Knox, Senior Director of Education and Workforce Policy at Microsoft
Initial Thoughts
Before we get into the meat of how we incorporate AI learning into our public schools, there are some thoughts to consider.
Many people have tried to equate the birth of AI technology to the dotcom boom of the 90s or other major transformative technologies throughout history, but AI brings about a revolution of not just changing how we do work, but who is doing the work itself. We are essentially handing the keys to systems to be driven and managed by…other systems. White-collar jobs are being automated by AI agents (we’ll discuss these), and blue-collar jobs are in the crosshairs of robotics manufacturers.
Although it will be a very long time, if at all, before a robot will replace a pipeliner, plumber, or electrician, they will certainly be added into areas to augment repeated physical activities such as moving boxes, transporting packages, etc. Similarly, the counter at McDonald’s may be automated, but the burger-flipping messiness of the line cooks (and cleaning) seems nearly impossible to program into a robot - but don’t quote me on that.
The hard-to-grasp truth is that as parents we do not have the skillsets or foresight to help our kids understand just how different their jobs may be from ours.
In some ways, we’re flying blind on knowing the prospects for our kid’s future.
This is why we need to have these discussions now and begin implementing new AI education programs in our public schools as soon as possible, because the urgency is here.
In this article we will focus on where AI will impact the most, which is the common entry-level job roles that require computers and any common office roles or processes that AI will likely compete with.
We will not include the topics of art, music, or other areas that are now being dominated by AI. It is an entirely different discussion regarding human authenticity and originality in the arts, as compared to us worrying about how we make sure our kids will be able to find purposeful work that enables them to be productive members of society (and support themselves financially).1
The Impact of AI in Education
“Generative AI has become the fastest-spreading technology in human history, adopted at a pace that even the most seasoned technologists could scarcely imagine. This speed is breathtaking, but it also compels us to pause and ask, “Are we ready for what comes next?” AI’s promise is extraordinary. It can help solve problems that have challenged humanity for decades—improving health outcomes, advancing education, and unlocking new opportunities for economic growth. But, like every transformative technology before it, AI brings new questions and new responsibilities.”
Brad Smith, Microsoft Vice-Chair & President
In Microsoft’s testimony, they reported that daily use of AI by K-12 teachers increased by 58% within the last year, with 80% of teachers using AI in their daily roles or for school-related purposes.
However, one in three teachers reported a lack of confidence when using AI effectively and responsibly. The challenges focus in three main areas:
AI literacy – Teachers want the skills, knowledge, and support to build AI literacy and critical thinking in their students;
AI guardrails – Teachers want students to use AI responsibly and safely; and
AI tools – Teachers want classroom-ready AI tools and opportunities to provide feedback that improve them.
Breaking this down for a public school district, there are quick items we can introduce to begin supporting these needs:
Implement AI support programs for teachers, such as Microsoft Elevate or Grow with Google’s AI for Educators. These courses should be utilized as continuing education courses to support teacher growth, learning, and confidence with AI systems.
Introduction of the National Academy for AI Instruction, a partnership between the major AI companies such as OpenAI, Microsoft, and Anthropic with the American Federation of Teachers and the United Federation of Teachers. These are “train the trainer” model courses that would support tech coaches or teachers strong in AI to provide professional developments to other teachers, which they do every summer and throughout the school year.
These programs also have support for special education teachers.
Any AI-based training should include hours towards Continuing Professional Education (CPE) credits.
AI Literacy
As with other subjects in K-12 education, you need a good framework to support development of the subject. A framework for AI literacy is no different, which should support both teachers and students.
Luckily, there are already resources available for lawmakers and local policymakers like school boards to begin implementing proper AI literacy frameworks within their district:
The AI Literacy Framework: Defines the “knowledge, skills, and attitudes students and educators need to understand, use, and critically evaluate AI in K-12 education.” You can download the framework directly here.
Teach AI Toolkit: Supports “education authorities, school leaders, and teachers in creating thoughtful guidance to help their communities realize the potential benefits of incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) in primary and secondary education while understanding and mitigating the potential risks.”
An obvious item of importance is to align any AI lessons with the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS). This would be a task for school districts to manage but it is clear there are already appropriate TEKS where AI could be integrated. This includes the Technology Applications TEKS as a primer, but you could certainly use several others within English Language Arts and Reading (ELAR), Math, or Science. Similarly, the Digital Citizenship framework is appropriate in this space as well.
Let’s move on to looking at how AI is impacting the workforce and then where we can help students be prepared for a future in this new environment.
The Impact of AI in the Workforce
Apologies as I will be using tech jargon here.
I have worked in technology for nearly 20 years, and my primary roles have been more jack-of-all trades IT work. This includes everything from IT project management work to highly technical architecture roles. I have never been tied down to one IT specialty for too long as I have pushed for my career to break into new roles to expand my skills and provide value to my employer by being able to pivot where needed.
In comparison, many IT people get stuck in certain roles that they end up staying for too long, like being a Database Administrator, a Cloud Engineer, or your basic Business Analyst. There is nothing wrong with working in these roles, but my general career advice would be to diversify your knowledge so that you could perform any of those jobs. With the introduction of AI, these roles are now being automated or outsourced. This is because static IT roles eventually all change because of the evolution of technology, and AI is accelerating that change.
This is enabling companies to downsize their IT departments as one person can perform the work of an entire team when using AI, which has become the golden age for your small business IT worker.
There are many other specialties that have been impacted as well. For example, basic business analysis is becoming much easier to streamline. You can now open an Excel spreadsheet, add an AI plug-in, and give it a task like, “Analyze the last 10 years of crude oil feedstock pricing and estimate trends for the next two years.” It will then create the spreadsheet for you. You can then use AI to build a PowerPoint using that data.
Business analysis and presentation building are already being automated.
The next stage of this technology is to now build it at scale, which is why I need to introduce you to AI agents.
AI Agents
I want you to imagine that there are 100 people that work in a finance department, and their role is to process invoices and payments (AR/AP) and perform basic data entry. They work in an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system like SAP. Their daily work consists of clicking buttons, using their business knowledge and context to make decisions on how invoices and payments are processed.
This is an obvious target for an AI agent, which is a purpose-built AI service. This AI agent/service has one job or many, depending on how you build it.
It runs by itself.
You instruct the AI agent that once a day you want it to process pending invoices or payments and then email a report once completed. You provide it with context for what its purpose is, referencing your internal processes and procedures, and give it the steps it needs to follow to complete its tasks.
You now have an AI “worker” that can use the context you have given it to process invoices.
As AI is known to be wrong on occasion, it requires checks and balances. Although this is where a human could fit, the method of thought is that you can create another AI agent to audit the first worker.
You can then build a third AI agent to handle special transactions, to verify financial institutions, to handle customer calls or other support needs, or to create reports to send to managers.
In theory, you can essentially build as many agents as you need. Your 100-person department can essentially be performed by 10 people and a dozen AI agents.
So where do humans fit in this scenario?
We still need people to provide oversight, governance, error handling, and management of other risks where AI agents can go wrong. In our invoice processing example, this could be human verification to validate changes to banking information or other legal requirements. But the reason I am explaining this is to help you understand how AI enables you to do much, much more with far fewer humans.
The other major downside here is that some of these roles, such as entry-level analyst or data entry jobs, are now moving towards being fully automated. That first job into corporate America may no longer be available for young adults graduating high school or college.
To close on this topic, this shift applies across almost any other industry, impacting professions like lawyers, doctors, sales, marketing, customer service, bookkeepers, and so on. If your job includes using a computer, your role could be impacted by AI.
Side note:
I want to be clear for those reading this and work in these types of job roles - I am not trying to alarm you, but I truly hope you are paying attention. Large companies are already moving towards these models, and small to medium businesses will eventually have cost models to support this transition as well. You need to learn how these things work, and soon.
Preparing Students for Working with AI
How do we prepare students to enter a workforce where entry-level jobs are being automated, blocking them from learning on the job and gaining work experience?
There are still many opportunities in the service and hospitality industries, the trades, and other roles that still require hands-on activities where robots or AI may not (yet) be appropriate. Those industries may still require heavy us of AI tools, meaning that at a minimum students should learn how to interact with AI.
But if a career requires use of a computer where AI must be used or as a major part of their daily work, then how do we train them to use it to its full potential?
We first begin by supporting teachers, giving them the resources they need to understand AI such as the toolkits and continuing education reviewed earlier. Strong teachers enable strong student growth.
We then need our school district, through our Board of Trustees, to adopt Board policies regarding AI, which could include, but not limited to, the following areas:
Acceptable Use and Academic Integrity - Defines appropriate AI use versus academic dishonesty, expectations, and other disclosures.
Data Privacy and Student Protection - Ensures AI tools comply with FERPA and any other federal or state laws required for protecting student data. This may include maintaining an approved vendor list and requiring data privacy assessments before certain AI tools are adopted.
Equity and Access - Addresses the risk-related opportunity gaps introduced by AI, especially for those who lack home internet or devices. This is not unlike general equity and access concerns related to educational content provided via digital devices or over the internet.
Use of AI with Consequential Decisions - AI should not be used as the sole basis in decision making that significantly affects students, such as academic placement, disciplinary action, special ed eligibility, etc.
Curriculum and Staff Development - Requires that AI literacy be integrated across subjects and offers ongoing professional development for teachers.
Other policy items could include cybersecurity, parental transparency or notifications, and general governance and accountability. There is a lot to consider with an AI policy in a public school district.
One of the difficult areas will be deciding which AI products to adopt within the school district. Whereas many companies are adopting Microsoft Copilot or OpenAI’s ChatGPT, it may make more sense for schools to adopt Google Gemini as they can already be incorporated into the school’s existing Google account management and licensing.
It may also be necessary for the school to attempt to block all other AI apps so that school data is only shared with the primary AI tool and not others like China’s DeepSeek or other potentially malicious AI apps.2
Classroom Learning
Now to the most important piece, which is how to support student growth with AI. It is vital that they learn to work with AI rather than using it as a simple question/response app, like a common search engine.
The workforce doesn’t just need people who can use AI tools; it needs people who can recognize when AI is wrong, when it is biased or “hallucinating”, and when a human decision is still required. Schools that build those habits early are giving students a genuine advantage, in my opinion.
Here are ideas where teachers can incorporate AI into their lessons, understanding that they will need to work through trial and error on which strategies are the most effective when using their AI framework and toolkits:
Writing - Students draft an essay on their own and then paste it into AI to suggest improvements. The assignment isn’t the essay; it’s the reflecting and explanation of how their essay can be better. It’s a task to teach revision skills and critical thinking, getting direct feedback on their work for improvement.
Reading - Students read a novel or short story and then ask AI to give them a summary of a scene or character from that story. The goal is to compare the AI version to what the student would have written and discuss with the class what AI missed about the theme, tone, or character motivation. It helps them understand AI’s responses may not always reflect truth or understanding, but the exercise of discussing something with AI is a great reflection tool. It can also reveal other perspectives they may have not considered. The goal is for them to bounce ideas off the AI rather than ask for a definitive answer.
Math - When students get an answer wrong on a math problem, they ask AI to explain the concept behind it rather than giving them the correct answer. They then have to write the solution in their own words. Generally, we want AI to act more like a tutor than a problem solver. Teaching students how to properly ask (i.e., prompt) the AI for the “how” rather than the “what” is key for their learning.
There are numerous other ideas for science, social studies, or other topics where AI can be used in all kinds of ways other than “give me the answer”, and that is what we are needing students to learn.
Career & Technical Education (CTE)
CTE programs are very popular within Texas school districts today, and our local district already has Cybersecurity, Web Development, and Programming courses. It could absolutely use an AI-specific course that could teach various AI concepts:
Data science and how Large Language Models (LLMs) function
Building your own GPTs using Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) methods
AI agent management
These concepts may sound complex for your average teacher, but they can certainly be broken down for easier learning, or they could be supported through partnerships with local organizations.
Local Programs
There are local student-focused programs, such as the Education for Tomorrow Alliance (EfTA), that provides career, leadership, and STEM learning opportunities via student events, science fairs and competitions, in-person career panel interviews, or online webinars.
These types of programs are perfect for sharing real-world knowledge of how AI is being used within the workforce today and how students can begin learning to use it now.
Closing
We reviewed where AI is having an impact on education and how school districts can begin the introduction of frameworks and toolkits to enable teachers to learn and responsibly use AI in their classrooms. We then looked at how AI is impacting workers and entry-level positions in corporate America, and then using that knowledge, ended with strategies for incorporating AI learning into schools.
These tasks are not simple, nor are they quick to implement. It will take dedicated people who are willing to put in the work to help grow these programs within our public schools.
As a candidate for a position on the Conroe ISD school board, I welcome your engagement on this topic, whether in support or against. You can follow my campaign at www.ryanforcisd.com.
Thanks for reading.
Yes, I do understand the arts are vital and that we should continue to promote Fine Arts courses in our public schools, but I want you to understand that how art is created and shared has already been completely flipped upside down. We have a responsibility to focus on where we as a community can create the best opportunities for our children, and the general workforce - whether the trades or office work - is where those opportunities remain (for now).
Many companies today are adopting a ‘block all AI’ policy except for those approved by the company, which is no different than blocking other websites. Modern next-gen firewalls or web filters can manage these rather easily.