I have spent 24 years in PK-12 education. I have seen the evolution of technology, from interactive smartboards, learning management systems, and Chromebooks. Each time a new technology tool was placed in front of educators, they had to answer the question, “How do we use this?” Leaders had to answer the question, “How do we lead through this?”
Artificial intelligence (AI) is in front of PK-12 educators and leaders across the U.S., and they are being asked to answer the question again. The difference this time is just how fast AI is entering classrooms and schools.
In a 2023 article in ASCD’s Educational Leadership, Tony Frontier wrote about the speed at which AI is entering education and the fact that the role the leader plays in the introduction and integration of AI in schools is so important. The technology is already there. Leadership needs to catch up.
The Permission-Without-Policy Problem
The numbers from a 2025 survey of 185 Mississippi PreK-12 teachers conducted through the Mississippi AI Collaborative are striking. Seventy-six percent of teachers reported that AI use is permitted by teachers and only 40% by students in their district. Only 15% could point to formal board policy on what that permission actually means.
This is the permission-without-policy problem. Tools are in the building, use is already underway, and the guidance that would make that use purposeful and protected is just not in place.
Mississippi teachers are not alone in this uncertainty. In a 2023 survey by the Pew Research Center, a quarter of public K-12 teachers nationally say AI tools do more harm than good in education. Only 6% say they do more good than harm. Another 35% say they simply aren’t sure. That is not a profession that has made up its mind about AI. That is a profession that is waiting for clarity, for direction, and for institutional support.
Policy guidance is becoming more visible and available. According to AI For Education, 34 states and Puerto Rico have published some form of official AI guidance or policy for K-12 schools as of late 2025. That is meaningful progress. A state guidance document is not a district implementation plan. The space between published guidance and actual classroom practice is where the real work lives – quality professional development, meaningful acceptable use policies, current academic integrity frameworks, and data-driven vendor vetting protocols.
When Conventional Responses Make It Worse
The 2025 survey of 185 Mississippi PreK-12 teachers revealed something important about where educators actually are with AI. While 32% of teachers cited lack of awareness as a barrier, 30% pointed to ethical and legal uncertainty, and 27% identified time constraints for learning new tools.
Teachers are not waiting to be introduced to AI. They are waiting for their institutions to catch up with them.
The open-ended responses from survey participants reinforce the need for school districts to catch up with what is already happening in the classroom. When asked about specific concerns around AI in education, academic integrity and overreliance stood out.
This pattern is not unique to Mississippi. It is playing out across the US. Districts responded quickly by blocking AI tools without examining how they might support learning.
This aligns with what Frontier identified in his 2023 Educational Leadership article. Frontier argues that districts tend to respond transactionally, adding policy language or blocking access, when what the moment requires is a fundamentally different kind of leadership response.
A transformational approach does not avoid those concerns; it addresses them directly, with teachers at the center.
What Educators Are Actually Asking For
When teachers in the survey identified what policy guidance they needed most, the answers were specific and actionable. Nearly 80% called for clear acceptable use policies for students. Nearly 70% identified academic integrity guidance and student data protection as necessary, and more than half called for teacher use guidance and transparency frameworks. Professional development requirements ranked in the top three across every category.
These are not the demands of a profession resisting change. They are the demands of a profession that is ready and is asking leadership to match that readiness with clarity, structure, and support.
Technology is not waiting. Neither can leadership.
Part 2 of this series examines what students are already doing with AI and what district leaders can do right now to build the governance infrastructure that makes responsible use possible for every student.
