Tuesday, September 15, 2026, 1 p.m. (New York City time), Council Chambers - City Hall
Committee: Committee on Oversight and Investigations
The Committee on Oversight and Investigations, co-chaired with the Committee on Education, held an oversight hearing examining screen time and the use of digital devices in New York City public schools. Chairs Krishnan and Dinowitz, Speaker Menin, and Public Advocate Williams delivered opening statements expressing concern about excessive ed tech and calling for mandates rather than recommendations. The Department of Education testified about its new AI and screen time policy (no individual device use in grades 3K-2, recommended 30-minute limits for grades 3-5, 45-minute limits for grades 6-8, and a one-year moratorium on student-facing generative AI through grade 8), answering questions on implementation, YouTube filtering, vendor data privacy, and AI pilots. Council members pressed DOE on loopholes, enforcement, parental consent, and follow-up items including the number of data privacy audits and research citations. State legislators and roughly 35 members of the public, students, advocates, and organization representatives then testified, most urging stronger mandates, consent policies, and analog learning options.
0:13 H
0:13 , move. It's not free.
0:25 Good afternoon. Welcome
0:26 states New York City Council
0:26 hearing for the committee on
0:29 oversight investigations drawn
0:29 with the committee on
0:31 education at this time, please
0:32 . Science, all cell phone
0:33 electronic devices who wish
0:34 speaking today, is hearing
0:36 pleas fell on appearance card
0:36 with the sergeant out arms
0:38 moving forward no one is t
0:39 oapproach the days chairs. We
0:40 are ready to begin. Good
0:46 afternoon, everyone. I'm
0:48 council members shake
0:49 rkrishnan, chair of the
0:50 committee on oversight and
0:52 investigations and today w
0:53 ewill be looking at screen time
0:54 and the use of digital devices
0:55 in our New York City public
0:59 schools. I like to thank my
0:59 fellow culture of of this
1:01 hearing, counselor. What are
1:02 of the committee on education
1:04 for coach sharing this hearing
1:05 with me today. I'd also like
1:07 to thank the representatives
1:08 of the department of education
1:10 students, educators, unions
1:11 ,members of the public and my
1:13 council colleagues who have
1:14 joined us here today
1:16 ,including the council council
1:19 member counselor, Louis cancer
1:22 murano cancer wimberly counts,
1:23 mr dela Rosa counting car and
1:25 counting, and we are also
1:26 honored to have joining us
1:28 today to our public advocate
1:32 germany Williams. We're also
1:33 joined by many parents and
1:33 advocates who share the same
1:35 concern about how much
1:37 technology our students are
1:38 relying on to learn in the
1:42 classroom. As parents, we all
1:42 remember the dark days of 2
1:44 020 where we sat over breakfast
1:45 with our young kids in front
1:47 of their chromebooks. We
1:50 logged on zoom and google
1:51 classroom figured out how t
1:52 ouse them after many tech
1:54 issues logging on figured out
1:56 how to on zoom and then try to
1:58 finish up after all of that
2:00 our cup of coffee while our
2:01 children were learning on the
2:04 screens.
2:04 And our children spent hours
2:05 of the day, unfortunately,
2:06 learning on the screen after
2:10 sigh of relief when they went
2:15 back to school our kids
2:16 finally got to see their
2:18 friends and their beloved
2:21 teachers again and we would
2:22 get too close those
2:24 chromebooks or so we thought
2:28 . But in the years since 20 2
2:30 0we've seen the proliferation
2:31 of digital devices and screens
2:32 in our classrooms and our
2:34 homes, they are pervasive now
2:36 for years after the pandemic.
2:38 I've watched my children loved
2:40 the same heavy chromebooks t
2:41 oschool, home and back and
2:42 forth every single day we've
2:46 had protracted negotiations at
2:48 home about screen time youtube
2:50 and the online acts that they
2:51 want to play that are on their
2:53 deal, we issued laptops and I
2:55 know every parent in that in
2:56 this room knows those
2:58 negotiations battles all too
3:02 well. Parents, teachers and
3:03 advocates are rightly
3:04 concerned that the use of ed
3:05 tech products in our schools
3:07 has become excessive and is
3:10 distracting students.
3:10 From actual learning and
3:12 undermining our teachers in
3:13 the classroom when our
3:13 students are distracted.
3:17 Studies have shown that
3:18 digital devices disrupt
3:20 student focus, in fact, google
3:22 that owns youtube, has openly
3:24 admitted that youtube is quote
3:25 unsafe and distract him
3:29 . End quote, not to mention
3:30 the health effects
3:31 . Disrupted sleep cycles
3:33 decrease in social coping
3:33 skills and ice cream all while
3:37 big tech companies profit
3:40 these massive companies are
3:42 being awarded millions of
3:43 dollars in contracts gaining
3:45 access to critical student
3:48 data while still being
3:49 vulnerable to securit
3:50 ybreaches
3:50 . And creating future
3:51 customers for themselves in
3:54 one breath these billion
3:56 dollar companies are telling
3:56 us that our kids will fall
3:59 behind without their
4:00 technology and then senate
4:01 selling us their latest
4:05 upgrade.
4:05 All of this at a time when
4:06 there's an entire national
4:08 conversation raging about the
4:10 need for government regulation
4:11 of a I around the mental
4:13 health and addictive harms of
4:16 social media, not just on
4:16 adolescence, but on us as
4:20 adults. Meanwhile, ed tech is
4:21 trying to import all of their
4:23 products into the classroom to
4:25 addict children early on in
4:27 their education from
4:29 elementary school. All the way
4:30 through high school and beyon
4:33 d. These companies are pouring
4:35 gasoline on this fire all dr.
4:36 Generate profits for
4:40 themselves
4:40 . Now, in the department of
4:41 education published New
4:42 guidance on the use o
4:44 fartificial intelligence and
4:47 screen time. The New guidance
4:48 is an important and necessary
4:51 first step. Now most student
4:52 sfrom preschool through secon
4:53 dgrade will not be permitted to
4:55 use individual devices in
4:58 classrooms for students in the
4:58 third through fifth grade. The
5:01 policy recommends limiting the
5:02 use of individual devices to
5:04 30 minutes and
5:04 . For six through eighth grade
5:06 that limit is 45 minutes.
5:09 There are no screen tim
5:09 elimits, however, for high
5:10 school students and the limits
5:12 do not apply his standardized
5:16 testing. While this policy I
5:16 sa good and necessary first
5:18 step, I believe we must do
5:20 more and.
5:21 Parents, teachers and
5:23 advocates have far more
5:25 unanswered
5:26 , questions the reality is
5:27 this the problem of screens in
5:29 our schools in our society is
5:33 pervasive and it is simply
5:34 outpacing current solutions
5:37 .this moment requires more than
5:40 recommendations. We need
5:42 mandates across our schools to
5:44 protect our students and t
5:45 osupport our teachers. Today we
5:49 will learn what led the dea we
5:51 to lay out their specific
5:51 screen time recommendations
5:55 . Is the committed to
5:57 overhauling technology
5:58 reliance in our
5:58 . Schools, will they audit
6:01 these technology companies
6:02 that store our children's data
6:03 and distract them from
6:07 learning
6:07 . And is the dea. We prepared
6:08 to protect our students from
6:10 the predatory big technology
6:11 companies in our schools
6:14 . More than a decade after
6:15 we've invited screens into our
6:18 schools, the to ensure that
6:19 they have a concrete plan t
6:22 oaddress a rapidly rising
6:23 concerns of screen time use
6:25 that we as parents and
6:29 teachers have.
6:29 We collectively need to
6:30 tackle the increased use of
6:33 big tech programs before it is
6:36 too late now is the time t
6:38 oact to ensure we are giving
6:39 our future generation the best
6:43 shot possible to be the
6:44 generation that finds
6:45 scientific breakthroughs,
6:46 writes the next great novels
6:47 and becomes the best version
6:51 of themselves, and so much o
6:52 fthat does not happen on a
6:53 screen or with youtube or
6:56 identified apps. It happens
6:56 off of all of those things.
7:00 We willot l net the greed of
7:02 big technology companies get
7:02 in the way of our children's
7:05 future or our student's
7:06 ability to succeed before I
7:09 conclude I would like to thank
7:10 the following counsel staff
7:11 for their work on this hearing
7:14 are owned by committee staff
7:15 nicole tata, erica cohen,
7:17 alexi blonde and own
7:19 . Kowski and oversight
7:20 investigation division staff
7:21 Kevin frick and ryan parking
7:25 education committee staff
7:26 . Alejandro carvajal, chloe
7:28 rivera, katie selena
7:30 . Angeline lawless and grace,
7:31 tomato and, of course, my
7:34 staff, chanel martinez, hunter
7:35 , deanna gracia, victoria
7:37 opperman and everyone working
7:39 here to make this hearing run
7:40 as smoothly as possible. Now
7:43 I'll turn it over to my Chi co
7:44 chair of this hearing council
7:49 member Eric Dinowitz.
7:49 You. Co chair Krishnan. It's
7:50 really, really a pleasure and
7:51 honor to be here with you.
7:53 Someone who cares so deeply
7:55 about the future of our City
7:56 and the children in our school
8:00 system. Um, good afternoon,
8:00 everyone. I'm Council Member,
8:03 former New York City public
8:05 school students, former New
8:05 York City public school
8:07 teacher and now chair of the
8:09 committee on education in our
8:11 in our great City and I'm
8:13 pleased to be here to co chair
8:16 the committee, the the hearing
8:18 to examine screen time and the
8:19 use of digital devices in New
8:21 York City public schools six
8:23 and a half years ago,
8:26 New York City public schools
8:27 shut their doors in response
8:29 to the covid 19 pandemic. I
8:31 was in a classroom then and
8:34 like every other teacher in
8:37 our system. I started teaching
8:38 through a screen almost
8:41 overnight, teachers and
8:42 students were asked to embrace
8:45 learning management systems,
8:46 video conferencing platforms
8:49 ,an educational software
8:50 because the alternative was
8:54 nothing and no preparation, no
8:55 warning, no choice but today
8:57 we have a choice and students
9:02 and teachers went back into
9:05 the classroom, the screens
9:10 stayed. The pivot to screens
9:10 was necessary when we were
9:11 mperson learning did students
9:17 need to continue facing a
9:18 screen all day instead of each
9:22 other. Research shows that
9:23 excessive screen time and
9:24 ildrchen is associated with
9:26 increased risk of obesity
9:27 sleep disorders and mental
9:29 health conditions, including
9:31 depression and anxiety, too.
9:33 Mention the challenges we as
9:35 parents face when our children
9:37 are engaged so much with their
9:39 screens instead of with each
9:43 other
9:43 . As a special education
9:44 teacher. I also know what
9:45 assistive technology can do
9:47 for students with disabilities
9:48 and english language learners.
9:49 But for some of our most
9:51 vulnerable students. We must
9:54 also ensure that these tools
9:55 are vetted and teachers
9:57 received robust training less,
9:58 these tools become substitutes
10:00 for learning rather than an
10:02 accommodation that opens up
10:04 access to the classroom for
10:08 our students earlier this year
10:09 after mounting pressure from
10:10 this committee, along with
10:12 chaired delarosa from the
10:14 committee on technology, along
10:16 with parents and advocates a
10:19 Mayor, mamdani and chance of
10:20 samuels paused their original
10:23 a policy and annncedou a New a
10:24 and and screen time policy for
10:26 New York City schools. This
10:29 policy bans individual device
10:30 used for children's to k
10:31 through second grade
10:35 recommends limited individual
10:36 device used for students in
10:39 grades three through a three
10:41 through 5 30 minutes a day
10:42 recommended time limit
10:46 sindividual device use for
10:47 students create 6 3 40 4
10:49 5minutes a day and of course
10:52 ,these recommended limit
10:56 sexempt screeners and other
10:59 assessment tools to som
11:00 edegree the release of the
11:00 policy does demonstrate that
11:01 the deal is being responsive
11:04 to the concerns of families
11:05 and the elected officials
11:07 banning screens in the
11:08 earliest grades and banning a
11:10 I aye, generative student
11:11 facing I threw grade eight.
11:14 Yet while the New policy
11:16 provides some guidance around
11:17 screen time and schools at
11:19 least many questions
11:22 unanswered, undergirding the
11:23 guidance from the deal he lies
11:25 an assumption assumption that
11:27 the has yet to defend with
11:30 robust evidence that screens
11:32 are good and necessary. I
11:40 disagree the the use of
11:43 individual screens related to
11:45 specific tools or products,
11:46 not just a nebulous 30 minutes
11:48 , or 45 minutes every tool,
11:52 every product and what is on
11:56 those screens as a parent.
11:59 As a teacher we know we feel
12:02 like we know that there is a
12:04 difference between a child
12:08 alone scrolling for the next
12:09 video on youtube or alone on a
12:11 screen waiting for the next
12:12 dopamine hit on that game of
12:14 fine learning and a teacher in
12:15 front of the room showing a
12:17 short clip of a documentary
12:19 and having a class discussion
12:23 about it regarding the updated
12:24 policy itself for the start of
12:25 school last week, many
12:27 teachers and administrators
12:28 will left wondering how to
12:29 apply these New limits in
12:30 their classrooms or in other
12:34 cases how to circumvent the
12:36 New limits. Superintendents
12:37 are left to figure out
12:38 specific guidance for their
12:39 individual school districts
12:42 for the success and health of
12:45 our children for the future of
12:46 our City. We must get this
12:49 right? What evidence can the
12:51 produce to demonstrate that
12:52 blanket screen uses beneficial
12:54 to our children. What training
12:55 is being offered to our
12:58 teachers on products and
12:59 methods that do meet a
13:00 standard of efficacy. How is
13:03 the deal. We continuing to
13:05 engage stakeholders who are
13:08 those stakeholders. How will
13:08 the do we continually evaluate
13:09 the policies affecting this
13:10 throughout the year and at the
13:11 end of the year or as we say
13:13 formative and some of
13:16 assessments.
13:16 And will the deal, we join
13:19 us to lobby New York state to
13:21 return to handwritten
13:24 statewide assessments, so name
13:25 a tool made a study behind the
13:26 tool identify the professional
13:27 development. The teacher
13:29 receives before deploying the
13:29 tools to their classes. We all
13:31 want the same thing a world
13:35 class education system for our
13:38 children. The hard part is how
13:39 to get there now I look
13:40 forward to today's hearing t
13:42 omove us all forward in the
13:42 right direction for our
13:46 children and I want to think
13:47 the members. I think they were
13:48 all named two areho a wre here
13:49 . I'll name them again council
13:51 members Joseph De Wong,
13:54 minority leader car Frank,
13:56 more handsome murano Lee on
13:57 course co chair Krishnan me a
14:02 shoremen Narcisse, our speaker
14:03 , Julie Menin our public
14:05 advocate johnny Williams. I
14:06 also like to thank my chief of
14:08 staff at legislative and
14:09 budget director theo salter
14:12 education committee staff,
14:13 including legislative council
14:14 alejandro carver hall senior
14:15 legislative policy analyst
14:17 chloe chloe rivera legislative
14:19 policy analyst katie selena,
14:21 principal financial analyst
14:22 and julian lawless and
14:23 financial analyst grace a
14:25 motto for all of their work on