California public schools cannot hire AI as teachers for K-12 students starting in 2027. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an amendment to the state education code last month requiring all instructional staff and contractors to be "natural people," a legal line drawn as AI-driven private schools expand and districts experiment with automated instruction.
Assembly Bill 2148 stops short of a blanket ban on artificial intelligence in classrooms. The law allows AI to serve as a supplemental learning tool - tutoring software, for example - but the person legally responsible for delivering instruction must be a human. Only flesh-and-blood educators can hold the title of employee or contractor under the new rules.
What the law requires
The legislation clarifies that while educational technology can support learning, the "natural people" requirement applies to anyone hired to educate or support K-12 public school students. The original bill proposed a full prohibition on AI and ed-tech in public schools, but lawmakers later narrowed the language to focus on who can be hired, not what tools can be used.
The change takes effect for the 2027 school year. It does not affect private schools, where AI-driven models are already taking shape.
Why lawmakers acted
Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance), the bill's author, described the measure as a response to the "dramatic rise" of AI and its uncertain impact on education. "We unfortunately have arrived at a point in the history of humankind where we need to define educators as human beings," Muratsuchi said earlier this year.
He added that the bipartisan effort "simply seeks to clarify and recognize the fact that as long as our children are human beings, that we need to have teachers, educators being human beings, and to continue to recognize in our laws that the importance of that human connection."
AI schools gain traction
The bill lands as AI-focused private schools emerge in California. Next month, a $65,000-a-year private AI-driven school is set to open in Santa Monica, signaling growing demand for automated and personalized learning models outside the public system.
Public schools, meanwhile, face pressure to integrate AI tools without crossing the line into replacing human instructors. The new law draws that boundary explicitly.
Why this matters for educators
For teachers and school leaders, the law reinforces that human judgment and relationship-building remain non-negotiable in K-12 education. It also highlights the need to understand AI as a classroom tool, not a substitute. For educators seeking to integrate technology responsibly, the AI Learning Path for Teachers provides guidance on using AI without diminishing the human connection that the law now protects.
Your membership also unlocks:
