Teens Drafted a Landmark AI Policy for Schools — It Passed

BOSTON — While educators and policymakers across the country have spent months debating how to regulate artificial intelligence in K-12 classrooms, a group of 98 high school students from all 50 states did something the adults have not: they wrote a comprehensive AI policy and passed it. Over the weekend of July 17–19, these student “senators” gathered in a full-scale replica of the U.S. Senate chamber at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute in Boston as part of America’s Youth AI Festival. After two days of debate, negotiation, and last-minute amendments, they passed the Students First Act by a vote of 82–16, creating a student-driven framework for AI use in schools that could influence thousands of school districts nationwide.

The Policy Vacuum That Sparked Action

There is currently no national policy for AI use in K-12 schools in the United States. States have moved at different speeds — according to FutureEd’s legislative tracker, 77 bills across 27 states were addressing AI in classroom instruction during the 2026 legislative session, with 10 enacted so far. At the federal level, the Trump administration issued an executive order advancing AI literacy and classroom integration, and the U.S. Department of Education made AI in education a grantmaking priority. But a unified, nationwide approach remains elusive.

Into that gap stepped the students. Organized by the Edward M. Kennedy Institute, AASA (The School Superintendents Association), and Day of AI — an independent nonprofit launched out of MIT’s RAISE AI literacy initiative — the 98 juniors and seniors were handpicked by their school leaders and brought together as part of AASA’s 2026 Leadership and Innovation Fellowship.

As Jeffrey Riley, executive director of Day of AI and former Massachusetts education commissioner, told NPR in an exclusive report: “The adults themselves haven’t been able to come to consensus on this, right? And so now it falls to the kids. Let them lead the way.”

What the Students First Act Proposes

The Students First Act, which AASA will distribute to its 10,000 school leader members, covers five areas of AI governance. For students, the bill permits AI use for editing, brainstorming, and studying after eighth grade but bans it for writing. Graded tests must be AI-free. Any student permitted to use AI must cite how they used it and demonstrate mastery through discussions, handwritten tests, or oral defenses. Suspected AI misuse must be reviewed not only by AI detection software but also by two school officials.

For teachers, AI is allowed for lesson planning, creating practice materials, providing feedback, and improving instruction — but each semester, educators must post a clear, written AI policy explaining when AI is allowed and when it is not. A separate section addressing parents and guardians is mostly advisory, encouraging balanced tech habits and ethical academic behavior.

One of the most debated provisions involved school AI chatbots. The final bill requires that when a school chatbot detects a student in emotional crisis, it must alert school officials rather than simply fulfilling the student’s request. “This could be lifesaving,” said Dylan Dornack, a student senator from Iowa, arguing on the chamber floor. The act also requires AI companies providing tools to public schools to disclose known biases in their products, and it affirms that no algorithm can replace a teacher’s human connection with students.

Lessons from the Social Media Era

A recurring theme throughout the weekend was the generational perspective students brought to the debate. Several senators explicitly compared the rise of AI to the earlier introduction of social media and smartphones into schools — and argued that adults had mishandled that transition.

“We missed the mark with social media and phones,” said Hunter Wurzel, a high school senior from Ohio. “That’s been a huge talking point already [this weekend], is how we failed to implement those things into education and teach the youth how to use them.”

Campbell McHenry, a junior from Mississippi, warned that without guardrails, “[AI use] is just gonna go unhinged. Everyone’s gonna stop learning and start relying on AI. Instead of using it as a tool, they’re gonna use it as a brain.”

Yet others pushed back against overly restrictive rules. Om Lala of California noted that “teachers already are pretty under-resourced,” arguing against unfunded mandates for AI literacy instruction. Tristan Tjetjep of Tennessee raised concerns about how “underprivileged schools” would pay for new AI programs. Tatiyana Reaves of North Carolina argued against giving parents an outright veto over student AI access, saying “a lot of [adults] don’t even know what AI is themselves.”

A Near-Death Experience for the Bill

The path to passage was not smooth. At several points during the weekend, the bill appeared doomed. West Virginia’s Ethan Liu had prepared a speech opposing it, citing contradictions in provisions that both restricted student AI access while giving teachers wide discretion. But last-minute amendments ironed out key inconsistencies, and Liu changed his vote, telling the chamber: “I had a whole different speech planned out against this bill, actually. It was really good… this bill is in much better shape.”

Student after student rose to speak in favor. “[This bill] is about who gets a seat at the table. Today, students have that seat,” said Bena Mejia Romero of Connecticut. Hawaii’s Kendall Terao-Toma framed the stakes broadly: “This is for our future — not just for education but for the workforce we will join, the economy that we will build and the communities we will lead.”

What Happens Next

While the Students First Act is not actual law — the teens were not actual senators, and the Kennedy Institute chamber is a replica — its real-world impact could be significant. AASA plans to send the full text of the bill to its 10,000 school leader members across the country, many of whom are currently crafting their own AI policies in the absence of federal or state guidance. The document could serve as a template or reference for school districts nationwide.

The initiative also highlights broader questions about AI governance in education: whether this student-led model will be replicated for other issues like data privacy and social media, how the framework will evolve as AI technology advances, and whether the tension between federal, state, and local AI education policy can be resolved.

For the students who spent their summer weekend in Boston, the answer was clear. As Gabriel Sutphin of South Carolina put it: “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us to actually help and try to change the country for the better.”