NYC and LA student AI restrictions

NYC banned student-facing AI in all K-8 classes for the 2026-27 school year, while permitting a limited set of approved AI tools for high schoolers. Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels and Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced the policy on September 2, 2026. LAUSD blocked generative AI for students on district devices; teachers retain access, and Google AI Overviews remain available because Google does not offer administrators a complete off switch. LA's restriction reportedly covers all K-12 grades, a broader scope than NYC's policy, though no primary policy document or official district statement has been independently verified for the LA ban. Together the two districts affect over 1 million students. University of Chicago Law School is piloting a ban on electronic devices in core first-year classes starting fall 2026, effectively removing AI from foundational legal instruction, and Berkeley Law's default policy, effective summer 2026, bars AI from conceptualizing, outlining, drafting, revising, translating, or editing work submitted for academic credit. An OECD survey of over 760,000 students in 91 countries found that students who do not use AI perform better academically than those who do. Harvard dean David Deming argued colleges should accept or encourage AI for assignments that cannot fit within a proctored exam window; critics counter that encouraging AI suppresses development of underlying skills. Twenty-two US states plus Washington DC have mandated bell-to-bell phone bans in schools.