Students say AI companies exploit under-resourced schools
The gist
A Chicago Teachers Union librarian says the ed tech industry profits as districts race to adopt AI chatbots.
Students in under-resourced schools bear the cost and want the right to refuse AI.
How it unfolded
- Oct 8, 2025A survey report finds less than half of teachers (48%) had any AI training or professional development from their schools or districts, and less than half of students (48%) said someone at their school explained how to use AI for schoolwork or personal use.
- Dec 1, 2025Current Affairs reports universities partnered with AI companies and used AI detectors like Turnitin despite high false-positive rates and documented bias against ESL and Black students.
- Feb 24, 2026A Pew Research Center survey reports 59% of teens think using AI to cheat is a regular occurrence at their school, while 14% say students rarely or never cheat with AI chatbots and 15% are unsure.
Key terms
- Chicago Teachers Union
- A labor union representing teachers, paraprofessionals, and clinicians in the Chicago public school system.
- ed tech
- Computer hardware, software, theories, and practices used to facilitate teaching and learning, often denoting the industry developing such tools.
- ESL
- The teaching and learning of English by people whose first language is not English.
Source: Wikipedia