A Legislative Education Study Committee working group on artificial intelligence recommended that the Legislature, the Public Education Department (PED) and school districts adopt a layered approach to AI adoption in K–12 classrooms: fund and evaluate equitable access, establish vetting and oversight of tools, enforce student-data protections and update systems and standards for an AI-driven future.

LESC staff and working-group members presented the summary to the committee after a series of educator-led sessions this summer. Tim Bedeaux, LESC policy staff, summarized work shaped by educators, superintendents, nonprofit partners and students. He said New Mexico’s working group focused on practical classroom use cases and policy gaps to guide safe implementation.

The group emphasized four priority lines of work: 1) promote and evaluate equitable access to devices, connectivity and assistive technologies (borrowing the Digital Equity Act’s goals); 2) drive effective, sustained implementation through professional learning and district AI plans; 3) create and enforce laws and procurement safeguards to protect student privacy, security and indigenous data sovereignty; and 4) pursue system-level changes that keep assessments, standards and accountability relevant as AI tools evolve.

Working-group members gave concrete examples from class use and district pilots: personalized tutoring tools (Amira for early reading, Conmigo for secondary scaffolding), automated attendance/chat interfaces, lesson-planning assistants and classroom-observation analytics that transcribe lessons to generate teacher feedback. Presenters balanced potential gains—individualized instruction, streamlined planning and faster feedback—against concerns about equity, cultural relevance, bias, surveillance, family relationships and third-party data retention.

Educators urged PED to create an evaluative rubric so schools can vet AI vendors, and recommended establishing an oversight body that includes teachers, PED staff, tribal representatives and students to maintain up-to-date standards and a vetted tool list. The working group also suggested PED adopt an “AI literacy” scaffold across grade levels so students learn what tools can and cannot do and how to evaluate AI outputs. Committee members raised related implementation questions—funding for PD, whether districts need an AI lead, procurement authority and enforcement mechanisms for vendors—and speakers encouraged the LESC to consult promising frameworks from national organizations such as EdSafe Alliance and Common Sense Education.

The working group explicitly recommended ongoing tribal consultation; presenters highlighted indigenous data sovereignty concerns and urged that tools that replicate relationships or cultural identity be treated with particular caution.

The committee discussion ranged across funding sources, timelines for possible legislation, the role of PED and how to ensure teacher readiness. No formal legislative action was taken at the meeting. The presenters asked the Legislature to consider creating a formal oversight mechanism, model district policies and funding for professional development and connectivity to support equitable, safe AI use in schools.