The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund urged New York City officials to reject expanding AI-powered surveillance in public schools, warning that the technology threatens civil rights and disproportionately harms students of color. The testimony, submitted ahead of a June 26 oversight hearing, comes as the district debates safety and privacy for nearly one million students.
The testimony was submitted to Council Speaker Amanda Farías and the chairs of the Education and Technology committees ahead of the joint oversight hearing examining artificial intelligence, student data, and privacy in New York City Public Schools. The session touched on issues at the center of the AI for Education conversation. LDF argued that money spent on surveillance should instead flow to restorative justice, mental health services, and other student supports.
Discriminatory impact of surveillance in schools
LDF said AI-powered systems-including facial recognition, predictive policing software, and automated decision-making tools-pose a high risk of misidentifying Black students and other students of color. Research cited in the testimony shows Black students are more than four times as likely as white students to attend schools with the highest levels of surveillance. "LDF is deeply concerned about the potential discriminatory uses of technology and artificial intelligence for the nearly one million students served by New York City Public Schools," the organization wrote.
The testimony referenced guidance from the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights that identified potential civil rights concerns arising from AI use in schools. That guidance underscores the need for schools to guard against discrimination when deploying AI tools. While New York City Public Schools has stated AI should not be used for disciplinary decisions, LDF highlighted that the New York Police Department-which already uses facial recognition and is piloting additional AI tools-remains involved in school safety. "LDF strongly condemns any law enforcement involvement in school safety matters and opposes the adoption of school surveillance tools," the testimony said.
Redirecting funds to student support services
A safe learning environment requires investment in students, not surveillance, the organization argued. "Achieving safe and supportive learning environments requires investment in students, not increased surveillance, policing, and punitive practices," LDF wrote. "Schools are strongest when they foster belonging, healing, democratic participation, and student voice, not heightened monitoring and law enforcement presence."
LDF urged the city to end funding for new surveillance technologies and halt the recruitment of additional School Safety Agents. The testimony estimated that eliminating the hiring of additional school police could save roughly $90 million annually, money that should be redirected to school climate coordinators, restorative justice programs, and mental health services. Students experiencing conflict or trauma, LDF wrote, "need counselors, social workers, restorative justice coordinators, and other trained, supportive staff-not more cameras, AI-enabled surveillance programs, scanners, data sharing with law enforcement entities, and policing."
First Amendment concerns amid increased enforcement
The expansion of surveillance and policing also threatens students' constitutional rights, LDF argued. The testimony raised alarms about potential chilling effects on speech, organizing, and protest activity, particularly against the backdrop of heightened immigration enforcement. "The expansion of school surveillance and perimeter enforcement raises serious First Amendment concerns and risks chilling students' speech, organizing, and protest activity in and around educational spaces," the organization wrote.
LDF criticized pending legislation that would expand police authority around educational facilities, saying such measures could restrict constitutionally protected protest and undermine schools as sites for civic engagement. "Students do not shed their constitutional rights when attending school, and New York City must protect those rights by refusing to expand surveillance and policing in schools," the testimony said. The organization urged the City Council and Mayor to reject surveillance-centered approaches, instead embracing a rights-based vision of student safety grounded in privacy, dignity, and restorative justice.
Why this matters for educators
The LDF's testimony is a direct challenge to how schools balance safety and technology. For teachers, administrators, and education policymakers, the push to reject AI surveillance highlights the need to evaluate any new school technology through a civil rights lens. The data on racial disparities in surveillance is not just a policy abstraction-it affects the daily experiences of students in classrooms. Investing in restorative justice and mental health supports, rather than in AI-powered monitoring, aligns with what research shows actually improves school climate.
At the same time, AI is not inherently harmful; many educators are exploring how to use it responsibly in instruction. For those interested in learning how to integrate AI tools into their teaching without crossing into surveillance, the AI Learning Path for Teachers offers practical, ethics-focused training. The broader conversation about AI's role in schools, including its potential for personalized learning, can be found at AI for Education. As the LDF testimony makes clear, the priority must be protecting students' rights and well-being, not expanding monitoring.
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