Microsoft Bars Training AI on Student Data

Weingarten said the union acted because Washington did not. "We have forged a hard-fought, iron-clad privacy agreement with real teeth that protects students and families, because no one else, including the federal government, has stepped up to do the real work," she said. She added: "We can get angrier and angrier, or we can act decisively; anything less than legally enforceable provisions is simply a wish list."

She called existing law inadequate — "HIPAA and FERPA never envisioned the advent of AI" — and said the standard is "a very important first step" toward safeguards in law.

Smith described the document in three words. "It is 30 pages, but in some ways it comes down to three words: privacy, safety, and transparency," he said. "I actually think the best dose of medicine, if you will, for anybody is sunshine transparency."

Mulgrew, who represents roughly 200,000 members in New York City, said the deal "starts to level the playing field in a competitive, ever-changing arena that lacks the guardrails our children and school communities need." He defended the city's moratorium: "We have been clear that we do not believe [AI use in] K through 8 is appropriate at this point in time."

Enforcement is where reporters pushed back. Asked by Mother Jones what specifically happens if Microsoft misses a remediation deadline, Smith pointed to existing contracts and transparency reports rather than a set process: "Obviously, this becomes part of our broader contract with each school district, and all of those contracts already have built-in remedies." Pressed again, he said the remedies "can vary" and added, "Mostly, what I find is that what people want when something goes wrong is just to go fix it." The guidelines do not define a "reasonable" remediation time, leaving Microsoft and the district to "engage in good faith."