Virginia lawmakers propose guardrails for artificial intelligence use in education

This article was originally published by Virginia Mercury.

Advocates of artificial intelligence praise the technology for increasing efficiency and productivity and enhancing research and problem-solving.

But as schools adopt AI and students spend more time on screens, state lawmakers have questions about the technology’s impact on students’ safety, critical thinking and learning skills.

Del. Sam Rasoul, D-Roanoke, said due to these concerns, lawmakers and educators are now trying to keep pace with rapid AI advancements.

“These tools have advanced rapidly, while education has not kept pace. This disparity is limiting students’ cognitive development, particularly in high school,” Rasoul said. “It is essential to view this as an educational crisis, which necessitates prompt and significant measures.”

Lawmakers, including Sen. Stella Pekarsky, D-Fairfax, a former school board member in the area, told the Mercury that she values the tools for students and teachers. But like her colleagues, she said standards should protect students and enhance education for the future.

“Our world is changing,” Pekarsky said. “It is changing at a rapid, rapid clip, and AI in schools, I think, is something to be not feared, but also to be very wary of the very real negative impacts it can have if we allow it to proliferate unchecked.”

AI Use in Schools

Students’ use of AI is a matter of national interest, as more schools outpace the federal and state governments in adopting the technology before regulations can be fleshed out.

On Jan. 15, neuroscientist and educator Dr. Jared Cooney Horvath and other experts testified before Congress about the impact of screen time on children and young adults, who spend an average of five to eight hours a day on screens, warning that it has fueled a creativity and learning crisis.

“Gen Z (born roughly between 1997 and 2012) is the first generation in modern history to underperform us on basically every cognitive measure we have — from basic attention to memory to literacy to numeracy to executive functioning to even general IQ — even though they go to more school than we did,” Horvath said.

He attributed the decline to the widespread adoption of digital technology in schools.

Among the recommendations, the group urged Congress to ban artificial intelligence chatbots and companion apps for minors.

In the meantime, students across all levels are using AI for instruction, according to survey results from the Center for Democracy & Technology, which found that around 85% of teachers used the technology in the 2024–25 school year and 86% of students used AI tools.

Some of those students attend the private school network Alpha Schools, which has a campus in Northern Virginia. Alpha Schools is known for using the two-hour learning model, which aims to have students learn twice as much in two hours per day as they do over six hours in traditional schools.

At Alpha Schools, students focus on academics for only two hours a day and use AI applications that provide one-to-one, personalized instruction, replacing teachers.

Students said they see positive outcomes from AI use in class, according to CDT’s results, but researchers are concerned that AI use weakens important skills students need to learn.

On the collegiate level, educators nationwide who were recently surveyed are concerned that AI is harming students’ critical thinking abilities.

According to results from the American Association of Colleges and Universities and Elon University’s Imagining the Digital Future Center, which polled 1,057 faculty members, 90% said AI would decrease students’ critical thinking abilities, and 83% said students’ use of it would decrease their attention spans.

Eddie Watson, co-author of the report and Vice President for Digital Innovation at AAC&U, said that when over 90% of faculty warn that generative AI may weaken critical thinking and increase student overreliance, higher education is at an inflection point. 

“These findings do not call for abandoning AI, but for intentional leadership – rethinking teaching models, assessment practices, and academic integrity so that human judgment, inquiry, and learning remain central,” Watson said in a statement. “The challenge before higher education is to act with urgency and purpose so that AI strengthens, rather than undermines, the value of a college degree.”

Pending State Legislation

AI instructional bills requiring safety guidance and data collection on their use are on track to pass the General Assembly.

As currently proposed, Pekarsky’s Senate Bill 394 would establish a pilot program for practical AI use in public elementary and secondary schools. An annual report is due to lawmakers with the program slated to end July 1, 2030.

The bill requires the Board of Education to publish guidance for the “safe, ethical, and equitable use” of AI in public elementary and secondary schools. School boards must develop policies consistent with the Board of Education’s guidance. 

Rasoul’s House Bill 1186 requires school boards to create a policy prohibiting students from being “required, encouraged, or permitted” to use an AI chatbot for instruction, lessons, or assignments in any course.

With the assistance of AI, chatbots communicate in a user’s language to help them complete tasks such as searching the internet or creating content. Experts have found that in some cases, users have developed unintended emotional connections with chatbots and may share private information with them.

Both proposals are likely to be revised before clearing the legislature or being laid aside in the coming weeks.

Other measures regarding students and devices include SB 568, introduced by Sen. Glen Sturtevant, R-Chesterfield, which aims to limit students’ screen time, and Rasoul’s HB 1486, which requires schools to instruct students on the time spent using electronic devices and their addictive potential.

Lawmakers have until the weekend of March 14 to advance or eliminate legislation before it goes to Gov. Abigail Spanberger for consideration.