Wednesday, June 24, 2026, 1 p.m. (New York City time), Council Chambers - City Hall
Committee: Committee on Education
The Committee on Education, joined by the Committee on Technology, held an oversight hearing on artificial intelligence, student data, and privacy in New York City public schools. Chairs Dinowitz and De La Rosa heard testimony from NYC Public Schools officials, including First Deputy Chancellor Danielle Gente, Chief Privacy Officer Dennis Doyle, and other DOE staff, on the March 2025 AI guidance, its 45-day feedback window (6,491 responses), data breaches, the IRMA vendor review process, and tool vetting. The committees also considered legislation: Intros 684 and 853 (sponsored by Council Member Zhuang) requiring studies on language access, income, and geography affecting gifted/talented and special education access; and preconsidered Intros 2129 and 2130 (Dinowitz) on annual reporting of algorithmic tools and quarterly reporting of data breaches. No votes were taken. Council members pressed the administration on student-facing AI, training completion rates flagged in a state comptroller audit, breach notification delays (including Illuminate), vendor bias evaluation, and monitoring tools like GoGuardian. Numerous students, parents, and advocates testified, with most urging a two-year moratorium on student-facing AI.
0:06 Already the no good afternoon
0:06 .welcome today's New York City
0:28 council hearing for the
0:29 committee on education join
0:30 with the committee on
0:32 technology, please. Science,
0:33 all cell phone electronic
0:35 devices and as a friendly
0:36 reminded do not approach today
0:37 is if you wish to testify
0:39 today. Please fill out an
0:40 appearance car when the
0:41 sergeant at arms.
0:42 No further do with chairs.
0:43 We are ready to begin. Thank
0:48 you. Good afternoon, everyone.
0:48 I'm Council Member Eric
0:50 Dinowitz, York City public
0:51 school alum, although with a
0:53 different signature on my
0:56 diploma, public school special
0:57 education teacher and chair of
0:58 the committee on education and
1:00 I am excited to be joined by
1:02 my friend from the south chair
1:04 of the committee on technology
1:07 Council Member delarosa for
1:08 today's hearing on artificial
1:09 intelligence students data and
1:11 privacy in New York City
1:14 public schools. Today's
1:15 hearing will examine the
1:16 landscape of a I use in New
1:17 York City public schools,
1:19 particularly as it relates to
1:22 academic integrity and student
1:23 data and privacy. The rapid
1:27 proliferation of has sparked
1:29 intense citywide debate about
1:30 the role of and use of a I in
1:33 schools in we issued
1:35 preliminary guidelines for a I
1:36 in public schools, but the
1:39 guidance has faced strong
1:41 opposition from parents and
1:42 advocacy groups alike, many
1:45 council members, including
1:46 myself and numerous community
1:48 education councils have gone
1:50 as far as calling for a two
1:51 year moratorium on the use of
1:53 student facing a I in schools.
1:56 They point ongoing worries
1:57 about data privacy breaches
1:58 and lack of transparency and
2:01 very troublingly for me as a
2:04 former teacher cognitive
2:06 offloading an algorithmic bia
2:09 s
2:09 . Others, however, argue that
2:10 the question of allowing a in
2:11 schools is no lgeron relevant
2:14 national survey data show that
2:16 related activities. Instead,
2:23 they argue the question should
2:23 be. How do we harness it
2:26 safely equitably and
2:27 effectively for our students.
2:30 Underlying this debate is the
2:31 issue of data collection by
2:34 third party vendors. My mother
2:36 deweese policy aligns with
2:38 national standards, a 20 26
2:39 audit by the state comptroller
2:41 found that dewey does not have
2:43 a documented data
2:47 classification policy and does
2:47 not maintain a comprehensive
2:49 list of all application used
2:50 by each school with a number
2:54 of high profile data breaches,
2:55 including the power school
2:57 breach that exposed personally
3:00 identifiable information for
3:01 tens of millions of students
3:03 and educators nationwide,
3:05 questions remain around. What
3:06 information is being collected
3:08 about students and who has
3:10 access to this information now
3:13 as someone who doesn't even
3:14 believe calculators should be
3:16 used in elementary school
3:17 classrooms. I look forward to
3:19 hearing today about how do we
3:20 is planning to protect student
3:24 data plans for updated
3:25 guidelines and a I and how do
3:27 we plans to ensure academic
3:30 integrity and rigor in light
3:31 of a I I now like to turn it
3:35 to chair delarosa for opening
3:38 remarks. Thank you so much.
3:39 Good afternoon, everyone and
3:40 welcome to our hearing, I'm
3:42 council Carmen, and I'm the
3:43 chair of the committee on
3:44 technology. I'm happy to join
3:45 my neighbor to the north
3:48 chaired Eric Dinowitz to
3:49 discuss an issue that I care
3:51 about deeply, not only as a
3:52 chair of this committee, but
3:54 also as a public school parent
3:56 who was concerned about the
3:57 future we are building for the
4:00 next generation technology has
4:01 become an unavoidable part of
4:02 our lives with artificial
4:04 intelligence, changing the way
4:05 we work, learn and mak
4:07 edecisions. This is why we have
4:09 an obligation to ensure that
4:11 innovation serves people and
4:13 that technological progress is
4:14 guided by accountability,
4:17 transparency, safety and
4:20 public interest, artificial
4:21 intelligent tools, artificial
4:22 intelligence tools are used b
4:23 ythe department of education
4:24 and its daily operations as
4:26 well as in claroomsss. The use
4:28 of a an education has raised
4:30 concerns that it affect
4:32 students critical thinking and
4:34 compromise the traditional
4:35 learning process, another
4:38 concern.
4:38 That people have related to
4:39 digit is related to digital
4:41 privacy safety and inequality.
4:43 Some my tools used personal
4:45 data as training data that
4:47 data could include students
4:49 information such as names,
4:50 dates of birth behavioral
4:53 analytics medical history,
4:55 family income, ethnicity and
4:58 even facial geometry without
5:00 proper safeguards could could
5:01 be used to profile students
5:03 predict or surveil their
5:05 behavior or make assumptions
5:06 about their abilities and
5:09 future opportunities.
5:10 This information can also be
5:11 breached. In fact, based on a
5:13 recent New York state come,
5:15 children report between
5:17 January 2023 in February 2025
5:19 dele experienced 141 data
5:23 breaches incidents based on
5:24 our conversations and public
5:26 reporting some tools used by
5:27 the dea we make a collect data
5:30 without parents, knowledge or
5:34 consent while a I offer
5:34 potential benefits in
5:35 education, it's ethical use
5:37 must be must be carefully
5:39 considered many tools have
5:41 bias and as a result
5:43 discriminate against certain
5:44 students or communities
5:47 . From the technology
5:47 committee's perspective
5:49 safeguards against bias in a
5:51 algorithms and protecting
5:53 student privacy are
5:54 fundamental issues that must
5:57 be addressed.
5:58 Today we wish to discuss
5:58 both how a I should fit into
6:00 the curriculum and how the
6:02 department of education uses
6:04 in its operations. We need to
6:06 make sure that a I support
6:08 students and teachers rathe
6:09 rthan undermining the quality
6:12 of education. We must ensure
6:12 that we are preparing the next
6:14 generation to thrive in this
6:16 technological error while also
6:18 protecting the rights and
6:20 future opportunities, lecture
6:21 inuits. I also joined my
6:23 colleagues and signing on to a
6:24 letter from our school
6:26 communities and we've heard
6:27 from our
6:28 . Calling on a two year
6:31 moratorium
6:31 . We look forward to hearing
6:32 testimonies from the
6:33 department of education and ot
6:36 to gain inside and clary
6:37 around the many questions
6:38 about in the classroom and the
6:40 use of in the education system
6:44 . We also look forward t
6:44 ohearing from members of the
6:46 public students, families,
6:48 educators and advocates.
6:50 Unfortunately, neither the
6:51 chief privacy officer under
6:52 the representatives of the
6:53 newly established office of al
6:56 accountability are here today.
6:58 However we look forward to
6:59 receiving their testimony,
7:00 which we've received and
7:03 responses in writing as the
7:05 school year is ending. I also
7:06 wish to congratulate every
7:08 student and teacher on
7:09 completing another academic
7:11 academic year. Now I'll turn
7:13 and now I'd like to thank
7:15 committee technology committee
7:18 staff, legislative councilor
7:20 council irene, but by
7:21 . Wolski. I am, I am learning.
7:23 I'm going to get it right? I
7:25 promise and policy analyst
7:26 Eric brown for putting
7:27 together this hearing. I'd
7:28 also like to recognize a
7:31 members of the council, who
7:32 are here of the technology
7:35 committee council members
7:39 showman Hanif and Gutiérrez
7:40 and we have swung and Wong
7:42 here as well. Thank you for
7:43 being here and I missing?
7:45 Anybody know? Okay, um, and
7:47 now we'll turn it back to
7:48 chair. Thank you. Thank you
7:52 chair. Additionally, today the
7:53 committee will also consider
7:55 the following legislation t
7:57 obill sponsored by council
7:59 member Susan. These include
8:00 introduction 684 in relation
8:02 to requiring a study on how
8:03 language access needs and
8:05 geographic location affect
8:06 access to early elementary,
8:07 gifted and talented programs.
8:11 An introduction 8 53 I
8:11 nrelation to requiring a study
8:13 on how language access needs
8:15 income and geographic location
8:17 affect access to special
8:18 education programs and
8:19 services I'd like to invit
8:21 ecouncil members you want to
8:23 make opening remarks about
8:25 these bills. Thank you. Cheer
8:28 . I'm here today. Asked if leo
8:29 support for my education
8:32 access for all the package in
8:34 2600 and David and the intro
8:36 853. I'm proud to put it this
8:38 pair of bills that together we
8:41 would go a long way towards
8:45 expanding education access for
8:47 all students, every child
8:49 deserves the education that me
8:52 meets
8:52 . Them where they are and help
8:53 them grow. Let's like
8:57 everything else in this City.
8:58 Children, you other borrows
8:59 have less access to
9:02 specialized programs than
9:04 others
9:04 . Children from lower income
9:06 families have less access and
9:07 the children for whom english
9:11 is the second language have
9:12 less access to, I believe that
9:16 all students deserve access to
9:18 rlimited due to wear the lived
9:24 what's their parent's income
9:25 or language they speak at hom
9:27 e. Both of these bills, ask a
9:29 to do a study. How language
9:32 access needs income and the
9:34 geographic location affect
9:36 access to education in 2604 I
9:38 nfolks on access to gift and
9:41 talented program while in show
9:44 8 53. It's about access to
9:47 spatial education program gap
9:47 seeing access to affects both
9:50 type of specialized, for
9:53 example, in sadly well known,
9:54 not enough black and the brown
9:56 students in specialized high
9:59 schools. But how can we? How
10:02 can brilliant black and the
10:03 students have the same chance
10:05 to get in when their
10:08 elementary's and the junio
10:08 rhigh school do not have gifted
10:10 and talented program that
10:13 other students have. We are
10:15 denying black and the students
10:18 opportunities and that must be
10:21 aunt. We should not be
10:22 thinking about him. Middle.
10:24 Eliminate those programs, we
10:26 should be extending them so
10:28 every child who can benefit
10:30 from them can getting into one
10:32 . We need to create a more
10:35 opportunity, not less
10:36 opportunity as another example
10:37 . It's also sadly really known
10:39 some children you out.
10:41 Boroughs need to travel alone
10:44 bus rights to get to the
10:46 school offers the spatial
10:48 education they need. It's a
10:50 yes, extremely burden for bot
10:51 hstudents and that there,
10:53 especially in the bad weather.
10:56 I still remember they have
10:57 parents call my office
10:59 . In the snow day, the school
11:01 is open. They have to trave
11:03 lthe kids have to travel more
11:04 than two hour to get into
11:06 school and the spend to 1 2
11:10 hours later and this school
11:11 have to end early and the
11:14 travel another two hours t
11:17 oget home. Parents. Those first
11:19 language is not english, also
11:21 struggled to learn about
11:23 opportunities available to
11:24 their children and how to get
11:25 to their children into those
11:28 programs reason only a few
11:30 examples we asked you to joi
11:32 nus in supporting both of these
11:34 both and those issues and the
11:36 other gaps.
11:37 And and I also want to thank
11:39 all of you who have already
11:41 cosponsored, and at the gates
11:43 came to testify and the rally
11:44 do with me today. Thank you
11:49 .thank you, councilmember
11:52 . Finally, the committee will
11:53 hear two bills sponsored by
11:55 myself pre considered into a
11:58 21 29 in relation to annual
12:00 reporting on algorithmic tools
12:01 approved for use in schools
12:04 and pre consider introduction
12:05 21 30 in relation to quarterly
12:07 reporting on data breaches of
12:10 algorithmicools t in schools
12:12 as we will discuss today ay ay
12:14 is already entering schools in
12:16 ways that are meaningful, e u
12:18 h, and perhaps detrimentally
12:19 shaping the educational
12:22 experiences of students as
12:23 well as the professional
12:25 experiences of teachers,
12:27 counselors, administrators and
12:27 everyone in between that makes
12:31 transparency critical.
12:32 Families and educators
12:32 should know what tools are
12:34 being used. What data they
12:35 collect, whether they have
12:37 been tested for bias and
12:40 accuracy and what happens when
12:42 sensitive student data is
12:45 exposed
12:45 . By requiring regular public
12:46 reporting on approved tools
12:48 and related data breaches
12:50 these bills will help turn a
12:52 oversight from a matter of
12:55 trust into a matter of
12:58 accountability I look forward
12:58 to hearing testimony from the
12:59 administration about these
13:00 pieces of legislation. Thank
13:01 you to all the members who are
13:03 here that have been named by
13:07 chaired. I would also like to
13:08 thank my chief of staff john a
13:09 . Klaus and my legislative and
13:10 budget director thea salter
13:14 education committee staff,
13:16 including counsel alejandro
13:18 carbaj senalior policy analyst
13:20 chloe rivera, policy analyst
13:22 katie selena, principal
13:23 financial analysts andrew lane
13:25 lawless and financial analyst
13:26 analyst grace amado for their
13:27 work on today's hearing, I
13:31 would like to remind everyone
13:32 who wishes to testified in in
13:33 person today that you must
13:34 fill out a witness slip, which
13:35 you can find on the desk of
13:37 the sergeant at arms near the
13:38 entrance of this room, please
13:42 fill out to slip even if you
13:43 have already registered in
13:44 advance that you will be
13:46 testifying in person today. I
13:49 also want to point out that we
13:50 will not be voting on any
13:55 legislation today to allow a
13:55 smany people as possible to
13:57 testify testimony would be
13:58 limited to two minutes per
14:00 person, whether you are
14:02 testifying in person or on
14:04 zoom. I am also going to as
14:05 kmy colleagues to limit their
14:07 questions and comments to fiv
14:10 eminutes. Please note that
14:11 generally witnesses who are
14:12 here in person will testify
14:14 before those who are signed
14:16 into the webinar, I would also
14:17 like to note that we've been
14:20 joined by council members
14:21 Linda Lee Kevin Riley him oka