New York City bans AI in elementary, middle schools for one year

New York City has imposed a one-year moratorium on artificial intelligence tools in elementary and middle schools, removing 40 educational applications from classrooms serving 600,000 students in the nation's largest public school system.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced the ban Wednesday for the 2026-2027 school year, citing the need for human connection and skill development in early education. Teachers will still be permitted to use AI for lesson planning, but student-facing tools will be removed through eighth grade.

"Children need teachers and human connection in order to learn and grow," Mamdani said at a news conference. "The tech industry wants us to believe that AI-powered early education is not only inevitable, but necessary. We do not see it that way."

Why it matters

As the largest school district in the United States, New York City's approach to educational technology often influences policy decisions nationwide. The ban represents a significant reversal from the default assumption that new technology should be adopted first and evaluated later, shifting the burden of proof to require vendors demonstrate safety before deployment in classrooms.

Research driving the decision

The policy follows mounting evidence of AI's negative effects on student learning. A comprehensive Brookings Institution review of 400 studies found that generative AI's drawbacks in classrooms outweigh its benefits, with researchers documenting "digitally induced 'amnesia'" where students couldn't recall basic information about topics they had studied.

A January 2025 study in the journal Societies found that people aged 17 to 25 who relied heavily on AI demonstrated lower critical-thinking abilities. Separately, 84 percent of college faculty reported believing AI erodes students' analytical skills, according to the College Board.

The ban comes as New York City's reading proficiency scores dropped 6 percent in 2025 among students in grades 3 through 8.

Limited high school pilot

While elementary and middle schools face a complete ban, the city will test restricted AI use in high schools. The pilot will include Edia, a mathematics platform limited to 20 minutes weekly that provides step-by-step coaching, and Quill for English language arts, capped at 15 minutes per week.

The policy also implements screen-time limits of under 45 minutes daily through eighth grade and bans "companion chatbots" through high school, though the city did not clarify what specific products that restriction covers.

Exceptions and enforcement

The moratorium includes exceptions for students with disabilities, multilingual learners, and career readiness programs like computer science courses. Students will receive two annual AI literacy courses covering the technology's capabilities, biases, and ethical implications.

Margeret Murry, an associate professor of communication at the University of Michigan, noted that while the ban sends an important message, "it is hard to know the effectiveness of the ban because they haven't shared the enforcement mechanism."

Regulating AI use for homework outside school hours presents additional challenges. Chancellor Kamar Samuels acknowledged the difficulty, saying the policy "seeks to limit that and seeks to expand our teachers and our understanding of how to combat the external use of AI when it's used at home."

The city plans to study the policy's impact on students throughout the year-long moratorium.

These details were first reported by Al Jazeera.