Two Springdale High School sophomores spent July at MIT helping draft a national model for AI use in schools - a framework the U.S. Senate has yet to produce on its own.
Ramey Jones and Danielle Robertson joined more than 130 student senators at the America's Youth AI festival in Boston, where they debated education technology policy in a replica of the U.S. Senate chamber at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute. Their proposal, called the Students First Act, passed the mock session 82-16 and establishes rights, protections and responsibilities for students, parents and school staff around AI use.
"The experience opened my eyes to the stress and frustration of trying to make a piece of legislation as perfect as possible in a matter of hours," Robertson said, "but also to how rewarding it feels to speak up for what you believe in and to represent where you come from."
What the Students First Act proposes
The bill encourages states to require AI literacy instruction once schools begin using devices in the classroom, with the goal of preserving students' critical thinking and creativity. Under its provisions, students would need to confirm AI use is permitted on an assignment before using it, fact-check AI output, and skip AI entirely on certain assignments such as artistic projects.
The act also gives students the right to request AI-based learning supports in individualized education programs or 504 plans, and to refuse assignments that require AI software - with teachers obligated to provide an alternative. Teachers could use AI for lesson planning, organizing classroom resources and providing feedback, but could not rely on it solely to grade assignments, assess student conduct, or make other decisions about a student's education. The bill requires teachers to publish a written AI policy in each course syllabus.
Jones said the experience taught her how much authority senators hold when creating public policy - and how imperfect the final product can be even after hours of work. She described the resulting legislation as a "patchwork quilt" of ideas for landmark AI guidelines.
"This festival has educated me on AI literacy, positive impacts of AI in education and creative uses for AI," Jones said. "I will continue to push for student autonomy and academic integrity."
For educators and administrators watching federal AI policy stall, the students' work offers a concrete reference point. The School Superintendent's Association plans to share the findings with its 10,000 school leaders nationwide as they craft their own rules, and the framework aligns with AI for Education resources already circulating in the field.
Local districts are already writing their own rules
School leaders across Northwest Arkansas have spent the past year developing AI policies while waiting for federal guidance. Bentonville uses a five-point rating scale to determine acceptable AI use, approving ChatGPT and Google Gemini for students in grades 9-12 while restricting Claude for Education to staff. Rogers requires students to use AI only for educational purposes as directed by teachers, and treats AI-submitted work as plagiarism. Fayetteville's policy prohibits using AI to cheat, falsify academic documents, or access district systems without authorization.
Springdale began exploring its own AI task force in July and August 2024. By April, the district had discussed best practices and met with Arkansas Department of Education officials. Paul Miller, Springdale's technology and innovation director, said the district's first step was identifying tools like Google's Gemini and NotebookLM that could improve teaching and learning, with the goal of using AI as a learning partner rather than a crutch.
Miller acknowledged the difficulty of writing policy for a moving target.
"You've seen that it's 100 miles an hour, a different thing every week," Miller said. "AI is changing faster than we can adopt it."
The local policies echo the standards Jones and Robertson drafted in Boston. Robertson noted that the student senators had just a few hours to amend and debate the bill - time constraints full-time senators don't face - yet they produced a national model where Congress has not.
"I cannot wait to see how this bill impacts our country and how it continues to be adapted to address this ever-changing technology," Robertson said.
District leaders navigating similar decisions can find structured guidance through AI for Policy Makers training, which covers the same territory the students tackled: setting boundaries, defining acceptable use, and keeping human judgment in the loop.
Why this matters for education professionals
The Students First Act isn't law, but it signals where education policy is heading: students get clearer rights around AI use, teachers get explicit responsibilities, and districts get a template they can adapt without waiting on Congress. For administrators drafting policies now, the key takeaway is that the student proposal - and the district policies already in place across Northwest Arkansas - consistently require three things: AI use must be disclosed, permitted only where the instructor allows it, and never a substitute for a student's own work or a teacher's own judgment.
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