Gabriel Nitro M.A. ‘25, a chemistry teacher in the Bay Area, holds a master’s degree in education from the Stanford Graduate School of Education (GSE).
For the past several years, artificial intelligence has started engraining itself into K-12 education. While AI takes root, its allure is by no means limited to any particular age group. It’s everywhere.
As a high school teacher, I am unsurprised to look over a student’s shoulder and see ChatGPT on their Chromebook. According to a poll from the Pew Research Center, more than half of American teenagers use AI for searching information and getting help with their school work. At its best, I often hear my students explaining how they use AI to offer explanations for challenging problems or create practice questions to study for their Advanced Placement (AP) courses. And at its worst, I see students using AI to cheat by writing entire essays or filling in problem sets. For some folk, this may be where people see AI’s ever looming presence ending.
But it isn’t only young people captured by AI’s promise. Teachers are captivated, too.
As I mentioned in a previous letter to The Washington Post, I have had many staff meetings this year where the sole purpose is to introduce faculty to yet another AI tool. Whether the promise is to enhance learning outcomes, demystify standardized test scores or make our lives easier, I learn about a new one every couple of weeks with seemingly no intention of leaving.
A recent Gallup poll reveals that about six in 10 teachers used AI in their profession during the 2024-2025 school year. Certainly I can attest that I (as well as some of my colleagues) have used AI at least once this school year, and my best guess is that that number has probably increased. Ultimately, whether at the student or teacher or level, the message is clear: AI has become inseparable from school.
As a teacher, it’s easy to understand how AI has easily found its ecological niche in K-12 education. While some may perceive teaching as simply live instruction, that is only a fraction of what it means to be a teacher. Whether it’s drafting lesson plans, grading assessments or creating more personalized curriculum for students with special needs, the responsibilities a teacher carries are more complex than they might seem at first glance.
And that’s only within the classroom. With emailing caregivers, providing accommodations or staying after school for staff meetings, the hats a teacher wears never seem to end. Thus, AI can be a lifeline to teachers, especially to those who are just starting their career like me.
However, AI may now be unfortunately starting to do the opposite.
Recently, a report published by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine presented what it perceives as the next step forward in how K-12 education intersects with computer science, particularly AI.
Dr. Victor Lee, an associate professor in the Graduate School of Education (GSE), and his collaborators report that while computer science education is currently inconsistent across the country, it has been growing steadily over the years. To further this mission, the authors propose cultivating these competencies within existing science courses.
While the aspiration to expand and consolidate computer science education across the country is admirable, the writers couldn’t have been more shortsighted.
In an ideal world, this proposal seems reasonable. As a high school chemistry teacher, I utilize the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) when building my curriculum, fostering scientific habits of mind and assessing subject-matter competency. Within these standards include skills such as “developing and using models” and “using mathematics and computational thinking.” All of these align with the prowess of a student proficient in computing and using AI. However, this entire report is based on the premise that STEM teachers can change their entire year on a whim, integrating computer science principles and AI literacy as if we wouldn’t think twice.
At my current high school, a school year is roughly 180 days. Those are 180 days of direct instruction, engaging worksheets, exploratory labs and assessments, not to mention days where students are absent due to sickness, extracurriculars or standardized exams. The school year is almost over, and at times I wonder whether I’m going to get through all the material I have set out for my students. To be blunt, there simply isn’t enough time to provide both a rigorous, subject-specific education and time for training students to be technologically competent without imposing strains on educators.
This comes at a critical moment where the number of yearly STEM teachers produced across the country is already in decline, dropping roughly 36% from 2010 to 2022. Increasing teachers’ burdens won’t keep them in work, and it certainly won’t entice more prospective applicants to join the profession, such as those applying to the Stanford Teacher Education Program this upcoming cycle.
If increased literacy in technology, computer science and AI are initiatives truly worth launching, they must be approached by placing teachers front and center. We are the ones who are educating the next generation, so we should be further prioritized in this conversation about how to incorporate it effectively and (most importantly) sustainably. Teachers need to be informed about the mixed bag of AI, balancing the potential for innovation with the tolls it takes on both critical thinking and the environment. With this perspective, only then can teachers and school districts create guidelines that provide a holistic depiction of how AI is reshaping the academy.
However, AI is seeping further into the very fabric of education, promoting teacher efficiency while simultaneously increasing burdens on a teacher population already on the brim of fracture. Only time will tell whether it will pull or push educators out of the profession.