‘Devices Down, Eyes Up, Hands-On’: Weingarten Calls for Screen Bans, AI Limits, Active Learning, in Major National Education Address

WASHINGTON—AFT President Randi Weingarten delivered a landmark address at the National Press Club today, unveiling a bold new vision for America’s public schools that reins in screens and artificial intelligence, enhances teaching and learning, and provides all students with a strong foundation for their future.

In her speech, “Devices Down, Eyes Up, Hands-On: 10 Points to Boost Teaching and Learning in the AI Era,” the longtime leader of the 1.8 million-member union rolled out a first-of-its-kind action plan focused on the importance of hands-on learning and knowledge application amid the seismic technological shifts rattling the nation’s classrooms.

She called for a screen ban, including online assessments, for students in pre-K through second grade. And she demanded an immediate end to student-facing AI in elementary schools, as well as a total ban for students under 16 on so-called “social companion” chatbots that simulate human relationships.

“We are at a crossroads that will define the future of work and society. Without proper oversight and strong guardrails, there will be real dangers to our safety, privacy, climate and the very fabric of society.”

Weingarten added that she is “not calling for a total ban on AI or a Chromebook bonfire,” but “what I am calling for,” she said, “is getting the balance right to harness the benefits of technology while mitigating the harms.”

In fact, the ubiquity of AI makes the essence of education—developing students’ knowledge and critical-thinking skills—more important, not less, even as “cognitive offloading” runs rampant: “When so much information is just a prompt away, acquiring trustworthy knowledge is just the first step. To be useful, that knowledge must be applied. … To really prepare young people for complex challenges, our true goal is to have students who can work together and problem solve.”

Weingarten’s 10-point plan draws on cutting-edge research, classroom best practices, and thousands of one-on-one discussions with educators, students, employers and families. “One thing the AI revolution does not change,” Weingarten said, “is the essential purpose of education: teaching students how to think and giving them enough knowledge to do it well.”

In addition to the tech mandates, Weingarten called for:

• A redesign of schooling so active learning, including project-based, experiential and career-connected learning, is the norm across all grade levels. That means redesigning accountability, as well.
• A commitment for students to have a solid foundation in literacy, numeracy and civic engagement.
• A focus on well-being, so that students and their families have their basic needs met and are prepared to learn.
• Protections for intellectual property and academic freedom, and support for educators to understand, effectively use and make classroom-based decisions about technology integration, within the bounds of informed state and local policies and guardrails.
• A new “gold standard” for safety and privacy for the use of AI in schools.
• An independent research consortium to guide scalable and sustainable education practices. Research should include the effects of AI, screens and technology on students, and should not be paid for by the industries whose products are being researched.
• Adequate funding of education by states and the federal government. This means reversing the trend of disinvestment since the Great Recession and targeting funding to level the playing field and promote opportunity for all students. It also means not letting AI and vouchers further defund public education.
• A “tech tax” on Big Tech’s earnings and on some business operations, to ensure they pay their fair share for the adverse and disruptive consequences of this technology to American families, such as workers being displaced by AI.

At a moment when the Trump administration is actively working to hand public schools over to Big Tech and private operators through unaccountable voucher schemes, while trying to limit what students can learn, Weingarten’s competing vision is rooted in human relationships, democracy, the judgment of trained educators, and schools that serve all children, not just some.

Weingarten pointedly called on Democrats to embrace her big-picture vision for public education, calling too many “frankly AWOL” on an issue that voters care deeply about.

“Democrats have been and still are among the strongest advocates of strengthening public education,” she said. “But too few Democratic leaders speak clearly about the fundamental importance of public education as a national priority. And too many want to resurrect the failures of high-stakes testing, are pushing privatization or are frankly AWOL from efforts to make the public schools, which 90 percent of American children attend, the very best they can be.”

Part of that challenge means taking a clear-eyed look at what today’s tech-heavy environment means for teaching and learning in classrooms. It is insufficient to call for new restrictions on screens and AI without championing a positive, alternative blueprint for public schools that can be rolled out in every state and district around the country.

“We need a relentless, intentional focus on what our young people need: greater literacy, numeracy and civic engagement, and active learning that excites and engages them—all while ensuring their social and mental well-being and ability to form healthy relationships. Devices down, eyes up, hands-on.”

Weingarten ended on an optimistic note as the nation celebrates its 250th birthday:

“America’s teachers—as they always have—are doing noble work; they’re showing up every day to help young people realize their potential and build our collective future. Today’s students will be the ones who heal, help and lead us. They will be the environmental stewards, the innovators, the artists, the first responders and the teachers of tomorrow.

“The other side is trying to exploit the current crisis to destroy public education and pluralism as we know it. We have a different vision: to revitalize and reimagine public schools so every one of our students can harness their future and build the country they dream of.”

Weingarten’s full speech can be watched back here.