The advent of AI in schools presents a new slew of obstacles and questions for educators and administrators: How can investments and policies ensure these benefits reach the students most in need? How will so many districts train up their teachers amid other pressing priorities and increasing financial constraints? How can educators learn quickly about which AI tools and strategies work best?
At CRPE, we are deeply engaged in trying to help answer these questions by understanding and shaping the impact of AI in K–12 education. We are committed to leading the way in this important work, ensuring that AI becomes a tool for enhancing learning and equity, rather than exacerbating existing disparities.
AI reached K–12 classrooms before state policies on its use and role in public education did. States are taking action—but for most, that action is still ad hoc, fragmented, and not keeping up with the pace of change in classrooms and workplaces.
Tennessee has been a national leader on instructional improvement. Now, like every state, Tennessee faces a newer question: where and how should AI fit in?
The Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE), in partnership with Education First and StrategicEDU, has selected seven Washington districts to join a second phase of their Washington K-12 Innovation with AI Community of Practice: Ferndale School District, Highline Public Schools, Impact Public Schools, Kalama School District, Sequim School District, Summit Public Schools, and Yakima School District.
Most school districts are using AI cautiously, usually to save teachers and administrators time. But a small group of districts is doing something different: using it to rebuild how school works.
A new white paper from the Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE) names our current reality: no shared measures of success, governance not keeping pace with the technology, and a market increasingly shaped by the priorities of ed-tech vendors.
https://youtu.be/ZbbQ0kRoLcg As AI adoption accelerates across K–12 education, leaders are navigating a rapidly evolving and often fragmented landscape. This webinar, held on May 27, 2026, shares early insights from CRPE’s research on AI in school systems, state agencies, and the broader education ecosystem.
School districts are making consequential AI decisions largely on their own—purchasing tools, training teachers, setting policies for student use, and trying to determine what responsible and effective adoption looks like.
Will AI reinforce existing models of schooling, or will it help us build learning environments that center purpose, relationships, and real-world contributions?
