Message from the Executive Director

Aug. 23, 2026

Dear Members and Stakeholders, 

As school districts grapple how best to use technology tools in classrooms and school boards consider how to shape district AI policies, the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) weighed in Thursday by releasing guidance on the responsible use of education technology in the classroom.

In a "Dear Colleague" letter from Kirsten Baesler, assistant secretary of the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, the department encouraged "states, school districts, educators, and education technology providers to keep student academic outcomes at the center of every decision."

Drawing a distinction between recreational and educational technology, the letter reinforces the positive aspects of education technology including personalized instruction and expanded access to learning opportunities. It stakes out a position that education stakeholders should not be asking if teachers and students should be using technology, but questioning whether the technology "improves learning and students’ academic outcomes."  

"The U.S. Department of Education believes these decisions are best made by states and local communities, with input from parents and teachers," Baesler wrote.

Among the DOE suggestions for states and districts were:

• Distinguish between policies addressing recreational technology use and those governing instructional technology.

• Evaluate education technology based on demonstrated learning outcomes and instructional value rather than screen time alone.

• Establish processes for reviewing implementation and outcomes to ensure technology investments continue meeting instructional goals.

• Support professional learning that helps educators integrate technology effectively into instruction. 

SED addresses ‘U.S. News’ ranking and AP Data use

The State Education Department issued a statement and briefing document on Wednesday addressing its response to the request from U.S. News and World Report for AP data to use in its Best High Schools rankings report. Noting that it did not withhold publicly available AP data and had student privacy concerns about the additional data requested, SED's statement said:

"The New York State Education Department (NYSED) takes data privacy matters seriously. Protecting educational data in accordance with state law outranks the for-profit use of the data by U.S. News and World Report. New York State’s AP participation data is collected to reflect student achievement in rigorous coursework, not to serve as a data source for a media outlet’s proprietary methodology. New York is committed to transparency and makes educational data—including AP participation—publicly available on the NYSED website."

Register your voting delegates

If your board has not registered its delegate for the NYSSBA Annual Business Meeting, please do so at your earliest opportunity. Your district clerk has received the registration instructions, and we appreciate their help in getting this done. Each member district can register one board member to serve, and registration can only be done via the link sent to the clerks. The 2026 Proposed Bylaw Amendments and Resolutions book will be emailed to the full NYSSBA membership by Sept. 1. All other forms and booklets related to the resolutions process can be found here. All questions regarding the resolutions process or voting delegate registration can be sent to advocacy@nyssba.org.

In-person or online, learning opportunities abound at the NYSSBA Annual Convention

You are sure to gain knowledge that will help you at the board table by attending the 2026 Annual Convention and Education Expo in Buffalo from Oct. 22 to 24 or by joining us virtually through the Annual Convention Digital Experience. There will be more than 100 sessions offered between the two venues this year, covering a multitude of topics including NY Inspires and Portrait of a Graduate, artificial intelligence, preventing violence in the online era, workforce development, using Census data to guide decision making, and much more.

Our two keynote speakers, Steven Sharp Nelson and David Allison, will be heard by both in-person and virtual attendees. Get a preview of David’s presentation by joining us on Sept. 24 for his complimentary webinar.

Weekly Updates and Reminders

Take Action on federal tax credit program

There’s still time to respond to our Take Action on the federal tax credit program. We have called on Gov. Kathy Hochul and other state leaders to not opt-in to the federal tax credit program. The New York State Educational Conference Board (ECB) issued a  statement urging the governor to reject the program. The governor has expressed an interest in opting-in, but has indicated she wants to wait for final guidelines to be released by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) before making any official decision. The state must opt-in before the end of 2026 for the state to participate in 2027.

From SED this week

The State Education Department shared the following this week:         

Read the latest national association news

Here’s the latest from the National School Boards Association (NSBA):

Be well and stay in touch.

Sincerely,

Robert S. Schneider CPA, CAE
Executive Director
New York State School Boards Association

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