Overview:
Dallas ISD is integrating AI into its classrooms, with a task force established to "strategically integrate AI to enhance teaching, learning, and assessment." The task force aims to provide professional development and AI training to teachers and staff, while also ensuring that AI does not replace the teacher and that parental consent is required annually. However, concerns remain about the potential impact of AI on students, including concerns about bias, equity, and the potential for widening educational and digital gaps. The Texas Education Agency has already started using artificial intelligence to grade tests, which has led to a significant number of students receiving a score of zero on the essay sections.
*This post was originally published on January 16, 2025.
While browsing the internet, I came across an interesting Dallas ISD Workforce Development Department video created by Dallas ISD high school students from Skyline High School. (Fun fact: Dallas ISD’s Skyline High School is widely considered to be the first magnet high school in the United States.)
SKYNET in Dallas
The video, “How to Incorporate AI into your Everyday Life,” discusses the meaning and uses of artificial intelligence. Produced by the very cool students in Skyline’s RTVF Magnet Cluster. Affectionately called SKYNET, alumni claim that the nickname predates the fictional self-aware artificial superintelligence gone rogue at the heart of the TERMINATOR franchise.
This video led me to start investigating how my local school district is integrating AI into the classroom and school district, and to think about the implications on public education. Despite widespread debate, the Texas plans to push through legislation to create a statewide private school voucher program. The program will begin with the 2026-27 school year. Many fear that allowing Texas families to use public money to pay for private school tuition will defund public education. At the same time, rapid adoption of AI in public schools is here, and it is here to stay.
Dallas ISD AI Task Force
In 2024, Dallas ISD announced the creation of an AI Task Force made up of district staff. With a mandate to “strategically integrate AI to enhance teaching, learning, and assessment,” the team has already detailed that “AI Equity” and the widespread rise of artificial intelligence is the “New Digital Divide.” Another goal of the new task force is to implement this new tool according to the following guidance:
- AI does not replace the teacher,
- Parental consent required annually,
- Usage determined by age appropriateness, and
- Supports will be given to build capacity and foster critical thinking.
The next meeting of the Task Force will be in February 2025. Teachers and staff will also be provided AI Integration professional development and AI training.
Earlier AI Efforts
Previously, In May 2023, Dallas ISD Trustee Maxie Johnson unsuccessfully tried to launch a pilot artificial intelligence project with Davista’s Heimdall platform “aimed at leveraging data-driven strategies to enhance student safety and support” by using predictive analytics and machine learning algorithms for proactive risk mitigation. The presumptive launch, which some critics suggest uses pre-crime-style AI similar to the dystopian film MINORITY REPORT, was unsanctioned, did not have Dallas ISD constituent buy-in and was not implemented.
In 2024, Dallas ISD students felt the impact of AI at the state level when almost 50% received a score of zero on the essay sections of the state-administered STAAR exams last spring. The Texas Education Agency started using the artificial intelligence grader for test scoring in December 2023. In Emma Ruby’s Dallas Observer article entitled “Half of Dallas ISD Students Scored Zero on Writing STAAR, but Some Blame AI Grading” detailing the event, Dallas ISD Superintendent Elizalde described the situation as a “conundrum,” leaving the district in a state of uncertainty, especially since STAAR scores are critical for high-stakes evaluations of both campuses and the district as a whole.
AI Bias vs. Anti-Diversity Laws
As Dallas ISD moves forward with integrating AI into its schools, the district is grappling with both opportunities and challenges. While AI promises to innovate the classroom experience, concerns over equity, bias, and the potential impact on students remain at the forefront. The district’s efforts to bridge the digital divide and ensure responsible AI use are crucial as it seeks to balance innovation with fairness. With the growing importance of AI in shaping education and the looming implications of state policies like the voucher program, the stakes are higher than ever. As Dallas ISD continues to adapt, the question remains: will AI help level the playing field, or will it deepen existing inequalities? Community members, educators, and policymakers must stay engaged to ensure that AI becomes a tool for progress in public education and not widen educational and digital gaps.
Jerry L. Hawkins is a Comcast NBCUniversal Digital Equity Local Voices Fellow. This story is part of the Digital Equity Local Voices Fellowship lab. The lab initiative is made possible with support from Comcast NBCUniversal.
