K–12 AI Literacy and Readiness Act of 2026

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Bill ID: 119/hr/8747
Last Updated: August 19, 2026

Sponsored by

Rep. Fine, Randy [R-FL-6]

ID: F000484

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The bill

K–12 AI Literacy and Readiness Act of 2026

HR. 8747, 119th Congress — read as touching AI & Cloud Infrastructure.

The sponsor

Rep. Fine, Randy [R-FL-6]

Every bill has someone who introduced it. That name is where the paper trail starts.

The alignment

55% match to Project 2025

This bill's text tracks the "Department of Education" section, p. 383-385 of the Mandate for Leadership.

Bill's Journey to Becoming a Law

Track this bill's progress through the legislative process

Latest Action

Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 18 - 15.

July 20, 2026

Introduced

📍 Current Status

Next: The bill will be reviewed by relevant committees who will debate, amend, and vote on it.

🏛️

Committee Review

🗳️

Floor Action

✅

Passed House

🏛️

Senate Review

🎉

Passed Congress

🖊️

Presidential Action

⚖️

Became Law

📚 How does a bill become a law?

1. Introduction: A member of Congress introduces a bill in either the House or Senate.

2. Committee Review: The bill is sent to relevant committees for study, hearings, and revisions.

3. Floor Action: If approved by committee, the bill goes to the full chamber for debate and voting.

4. Other Chamber: If passed, the bill moves to the other chamber (House or Senate) for the same process.

5. Conference: If both chambers pass different versions, a conference committee reconciles the differences.

6. Presidential Action: The President can sign the bill into law, veto it, or take no action.

7. Became Law: If signed (or if Congress overrides a veto), the bill becomes law!

Bill Summary

**Summary of H.R. 8747: K–12 AI Literacy and Readiness Act of 2026**

**1. Main Purpose & Objectives** The stated purpose of this bill is to amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965 to allow federal education funds to be used for AI-related curriculum and teacher training in K–12 schools. Ostensibly, it aims to prepare students and educators for an AI-driven future by promoting “safe, effective, and responsible” use of artificial intelligence. In reality, it’s a feel-good band-aid slapped onto a hemorrhaging education system—another performative gesture that lets politicians claim they’re “future-proofing” kids while ignoring the fact that many schools still lack textbooks, functional HVAC, or teachers who aren’t working three jobs. The real objective? To funnel public money toward unproven ed-tech vendors and give legislators a shiny talking point for reelection ads, all under the guise of innovation.

**2. Key Provisions & Changes to Existing Law** The bill makes four targeted amendments to ESEA, inserting AI literacy into permissible uses of federal funds at both state and local levels: - It amends Section 4104(b)(3)(A)(i) to allow state funds to support student instruction in AI use that is “safe, effective, and responsible.” - It updates Section 4104(b)(3)(C) to permit state-level professional development for teachers, librarians, and administrators on teaching and using AI responsibly. - It modifies Section 4107(a)(3) to allow local educational agencies (LEAs) to use funds for direct student instruction in AI. - It revises Section 4109(a) to enable local funding for teacher and staff training on AI literacy and classroom integration. All references to AI rely on the definition from the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 (15 U.S.C. 9401), which is about as useful as defining “love” in a tax code—broad, vague, and ripe for exploitation. Notably, the bill allocates zero new funding; it merely reclassifies existing grants (like Title IV, Part A) to *permit* AI spending, leaving districts to decide whether to prioritize AI chatbots over fixing leaky roofs or hiring counselors.

**3. Affected Parties & Stakeholders** - **Students:** Supposed beneficiaries, but likely to receive uneven, superficial exposure—elite districts may pilot AI ethics labs; underfunded ones will get a mandatory PowerPoint on “AI awareness” during homeroom. - **Teachers & Staff:** Forced to become instant AI experts via under-resourced PD sessions, adding another unfunded mandate to their already impossible workloads. - **School Administrators:** Tasked with implementing vague guidelines while navigating vendor pitches from AI companies salivating over K–12 as the next untapped market. - **Ed-Tech Vendors & Lobbyists:** The *real* winners. This bill opens the door for taxpayer-subsidized AI tools, curriculum licenses, and data-harvesting platforms disguised as “literacy.” Expect a surge in “AI-ready” buzzwords and pilot programs with zero evidence of efficacy. - **Taxpayers:** Footing the bill for a solution in search of a problem, while core educational inequities fester.

**4. Potential Impact & Implications** This legislation is less about preparing kids for the future and more about appeasing tech donors and avoiding accountability for systemic neglect. By framing AI literacy as an urgent national priority, it distracts from the fact that U.S. students still rank mediocre in math and reading, and that teacher shortages, crumbling infrastructure, and mental health crises are far more pressing. The emphasis on “safe, effective, and responsible” use is laughably naïve—like teaching fire safety by handing kids matches and hoping they don’t burn down the school. Without clear standards, equity safeguards, or privacy protections (notably absent here), this risks exacerbating the digital divide, enabling surveillance-style ed-tech, and normalizing algorithmic

Related Topics

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💰 Campaign Finance Network

No campaign finance data available for Rep. Fine, Randy [R-FL-6]

Industry Impact

Which industries are materially affected by specific provisions in this bill. 2 helped.

  • Section 2 of the bill allows funds for artificial intelligence curricula, which would benefit the AI and cloud infrastructure industry, as cited in sections 4104(b)(3)(A)(i) and 4107(a)(3).

  • The bill's focus on AI literacy and readiness may create opportunities for for-profit education providers to offer related courses or training, as implied by sections 4104(b)(3)(C) and 4109(a).

Project 2025 Policy Matches

This bill shows semantic similarity to the following sections of the Project 2025 policy document.AI-enhanced analysis provides detailed alignment ratings.

Department of Education

Weak
Vector: 70%
Pages: 383-385AI Enhanced

AI Analysis:

"The bill focuses on integrating AI literacy into K–12 education through existing federal funding mechanisms, while the Project 2025 policy emphasizes expanding school choice via tax credits and reducing federal oversight by allowing states to opt out of federal education programs. There is minimal thematic overlap, as the bill does not address school choice, federal opt-out mechanisms, or decentralization of education authority."

Key themes:K-12 educationfederal education policyeducation reform

— 351 — Department of Education as the Educational Choice for Children Act. This bill would create a federal scholarship tax credit that would incentivize donors to contribute to nonprofit scholarship granting organizations (SGOs). Eligible families could then use that funding from the SGOs for their children’s education expenses including private school tuition, tutoring, and instructional materials. ADDITIONAL K–12 REFORMS Allowing States to Opt Out of Federal Education Programs. States should be able to opt out of federal education programs such as the Academic Partnerships Lead Us to Success (APLUS) Act. Much of the red tape and regulations that hinder local school districts are handed down from Washington. This regulatory burden far exceeds the federal government’s less than 10 percent financing share of K–12 education. In the most recent fiscal year (FY 2022), states and localities financed 93 percent of K–12 education costs, and the federal government just 7 percent. That 7 percent share should not allow the federal government to dictate state and local education policy. l To restore state and local control of education and reduce the bureaucratic and compliance burden, Congress should allow states to opt out of the dozens of federal K–12 education programs authorized under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, and instead allow states to put their share of federal funding toward any lawful education purpose under state law. This policy has been advanced over the years via a proposal known as the Academic Partnerships Lead Us to Success (APLUS) Act. HIGHER EDUCATION REFORM HEA: Accreditation Reform Congress established two primary responsibilities for the U.S. Department of Education in the HEA: 1) to ensure the “administrative capacity and financial responsibility” of colleges and universities that accept Title IV funds; and 2) to ensure the quality of those institutions. Congress did not endow the Department of Education with the authority to involve itself in academic quality issues relating to colleges and universities that participate in the Title IV student aid program; the HEA allows the agency only to recognize accreditors, which are then supposed to provide quality assurance measures. Unfortunately, the Biden Administration has followed closely in the footsteps of the Obama Administration by engaging in a politically motivated and incon- sistent administration of the accrediting agency recognition process. As a result, accreditors have transformed into de facto government agents. Despite claims by — 352 — Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise the department and accreditation agencies that accreditation is voluntary, the fact that Americans are denied access to an otherwise widely available entitle- ment benefit if the institution “elects” to not be accredited makes accreditation anything but voluntary. Today, accreditation determines whether Americans can access federal student aid benefits, transfer academic credits, enroll in higher-level degree programs, and even qualify for federal employment. Unnecessarily focused on schools in a specific geographic region, institutional accreditation reviews have also become wildly expensive audits by academic “peers” that stifle innovation and discourage new institutions of higher education. Of par- ticular concern are efforts by many accreditation agencies to leverage their Title IV (student loans and grants) gatekeeper roles to force institutions to adopt policies that have nothing to do with academic quality assurance and student outcomes. One egregious example of this is the extent to which accreditors have forced col- leges and universities, many of them faith-based institutions, to adopt diversity, equity, and inclusion policies that conflict with federal civil rights laws, state laws, and the institutional mission and culture of the schools. Perhaps more distress- ingly, accreditors, while professing support for academic freedom and campus free speech, have presided over a precipitous decline in both over the past decade. Despite maintaining criteria that demand such policies, accreditors have done nothing to dampen the illiberal chill that has swept across American campuses over the past decade. The current system is not working. A radical overhaul of the HEA’s accreditation requirements is thus in order. The next Administration should work with Congress to amend the HEA and should consider the following reforms: l Prohibit accreditation agencies from leveraging their Title IV gatekeeper role to mandate that educational institutions adopt diversity, equity, and inclusion policies. l Protect the sovereignty of states to decide governance and leadership issues for their state-supported colleges and universities by prohibiting accreditation agencies from intruding upon the governance of state-supported educational institutions. l Protect faith-based institutions by prohibiting accreditation agencies from: 1. Requiring standards and criteria that undermine the religious beliefs of, or require policies or conduct that conflict with, the religious mission or religious beliefs of the institution; and

Department of Education

Weak
Vector: 67%
Pages: 383-385AI Enhanced

AI Analysis:

"The bill focuses on integrating AI literacy into K–12 education through existing federal funding streams, while the Project 2025 policy emphasizes school choice, redirecting Title I funds to families via micro-education savings accounts, and reducing federal oversight. There is minimal thematic overlap, as the bill does not address school choice, fund decentralization, or private learning options."

Key themes:K-12 educationfederal education fundingElementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)

— 350 — Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise would give the families of children with special needs approximately $1,800 per child to help meet a child’s unique learning needs. l Members of Congress and the White House should consider a similar update to Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). Title I is the largest portion of federal taxpayer spending under this federal education law, and the section provides additional taxpayer resources to schools or groups of schools in lower income areas. Federal taxpayers committed $16.3 billion to Title I in FY 2019, spending that is dedicated to students in low-income areas of the U.S. Per student, this spending amounts to more than $1,400 for a child in a large city and approximately $1,300 for a student in a remote, rural area.19 Research finds, though, that this enormous investment has not produced positive results for children in need. The achievement gap between children from the highest and lowest income deciles has not improved over the past 50 years. And recent, dismal outcomes on the National Assessment of Educational Progress showed declines for all students, with math scores registering declines for the first time in history. l Initially, the responsibilities for administering and overseeing Title I should be moved to HHS, along with IDEA. l Students attending schools that receive Title I spending should also have access to micro-education savings accounts that allow families to choose how and where their children learn according to their needs. l Parents should be allowed to use their child’s Title I resources to help pay for private learning options including tutoring services and curricular materials. l Over a 10-year period, the federal spending should be phased out and states should assume decision-making control over how to provide a quality education to children from low-income families. Additional School Choice Options House Republicans included school choice in their “Commitment to America” agenda. l Though actions by state lawmakers are essential and any federal policies should be strictly designed so they do not conflict with state activities, Congress could consider school choice legislation such — 351 — Department of Education as the Educational Choice for Children Act. This bill would create a federal scholarship tax credit that would incentivize donors to contribute to nonprofit scholarship granting organizations (SGOs). Eligible families could then use that funding from the SGOs for their children’s education expenses including private school tuition, tutoring, and instructional materials. ADDITIONAL K–12 REFORMS Allowing States to Opt Out of Federal Education Programs. States should be able to opt out of federal education programs such as the Academic Partnerships Lead Us to Success (APLUS) Act. Much of the red tape and regulations that hinder local school districts are handed down from Washington. This regulatory burden far exceeds the federal government’s less than 10 percent financing share of K–12 education. In the most recent fiscal year (FY 2022), states and localities financed 93 percent of K–12 education costs, and the federal government just 7 percent. That 7 percent share should not allow the federal government to dictate state and local education policy. l To restore state and local control of education and reduce the bureaucratic and compliance burden, Congress should allow states to opt out of the dozens of federal K–12 education programs authorized under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, and instead allow states to put their share of federal funding toward any lawful education purpose under state law. This policy has been advanced over the years via a proposal known as the Academic Partnerships Lead Us to Success (APLUS) Act. HIGHER EDUCATION REFORM HEA: Accreditation Reform Congress established two primary responsibilities for the U.S. Department of Education in the HEA: 1) to ensure the “administrative capacity and financial responsibility” of colleges and universities that accept Title IV funds; and 2) to ensure the quality of those institutions. Congress did not endow the Department of Education with the authority to involve itself in academic quality issues relating to colleges and universities that participate in the Title IV student aid program; the HEA allows the agency only to recognize accreditors, which are then supposed to provide quality assurance measures. Unfortunately, the Biden Administration has followed closely in the footsteps of the Obama Administration by engaging in a politically motivated and incon- sistent administration of the accrediting agency recognition process. As a result, accreditors have transformed into de facto government agents. Despite claims by

Department of Education

Weak
Vector: 66%
Pages: 380-382AI Enhanced

AI Analysis:

"The bill focuses on integrating AI literacy into K–12 education through federal funding flexibility, while the Project 2025 policy emphasizes expanding education choice via education savings accounts (ESAs), school privatization, and reducing federal oversight—particularly for military, tribal, and special needs students. There is minimal thematic overlap, as the bill does not address school choice, fund portability, or dismantling federal education programs."

Key themes:K-12 educationfederal fundingDepartment of Education

— 348 — Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise materials, private school tuition, transportation and more—accounts modeled after the accounts in Arizona, Florida, West Virginia, and seven other states. l Members of Congress should design the same account system for students in active-duty military families, including students attending schools that receive funding under the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).18 Heritage Foundation research found that if even 10 percent of the students eli- gible for accounts under such a proposal transferred from an assigned school to an education savings account, the change for the sending district would be 0.1 percent of that school district’s K–12 budget. Even in heavily impacted districts (districts with a large number of students receiving Impact Aid), the budgetary effect would be less than 2 percent. Yet these children would then have the chance to receive a customized education that meets their unique needs. As with state ESA programs, families who are homeschooling are distinct in statute from families who use an ESA to customize an education at home. Furthermore, research from the Claremont Institute used documents pro- vided by a whistleblower demonstrating how educators at Department of Defense schools around the world are using radical gender theory and critical race theory in their lessons. This instructional material discards biology in favor of political indoctrination and applies critical race theory’s core tenets advocating for more racial discrimination. Such ideas are highly unpopular among parents, accord- ing to nationally representative surveys, and the course material attempts to indoctrinate students with radical ideas about race and the ambiguous concept of “gender.” Finally, schools on tribal lands and under the auspices of the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) are among the worst-performing public schools in the country. Research from Rep. Burgess Owens’ office reports that the graduation rate for BIE students is 53 percent, lower than the average for Native American students in public schools around the country, and nearly 30 percentage points lower than the national average for all students. In 2015, Arizona lawmakers expanded the state’s education savings account program to include children living on tribal lands, and by 2021, nearly 400 Native American children were using the accounts. l Federal officials should design a federal education savings account option for all children attending BIE schools. The next Administration should make the K–12 systems under federal juris- diction examples of quality learning opportunities and education freedom. — 349 — Department of Education Washington should convert some of the lowest-performing public school systems in the country into areas defined by choices, creating rigorous learning options for all children and from all backgrounds, income levels, and ethnicities. Expand Education Choice Through Portability of Existing Federal Funds Setting education policy on the right track long term would require sunsetting the U.S. Department of Education altogether. Doing so would not result in fewer resources and less assistance for children with special needs or from low-income families. Rather, closing the federal behemoth would better target existing taxpayer resources already set aside for these students by shifting oversight responsibilities to federal and state agencies that have more expertise in helping these populations. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is the federal law gov- erning taxpayer spending on K–12 students with special needs. The law stipulates that students have a right to a “free and appropriate education,” and 95 percent of children with special needs attend assigned public schools. The education is not always appropriate, however: Special education is fraught with legal battles. Some argue that the education of children with special needs is the most litigated area of K–12 education. Thus, despite a nearly 50-year-old federal law that sees regular revision and reauthorization and approximately $13.5 billion per year in federal taxpayer spending, parents still struggle to establish intervention plans for their students with public school district officials regarding the physical and educational requirements for their children with special needs. State-level education options often exclusively serve children with special needs for these very reasons. Florida, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Mississippi, South Carolina, and North Carolina, to name a few states, all have education savings accounts or K–12 private school scholarship options for children with special needs. l Federal lawmakers should move IDEA oversight and implementation to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. l Officials should then consider revising IDEA to require that a child’s portion of the federal taxpayer spending under the law be made available to families so parents can choose how and where a child learns. l IDEA already allows families to choose a private school under certain conditions, but federal officials should update the law so that families can use their child’s IDEA spending for textbooks, education therapies, personal tutors, and other learning expenses, similar to the way in which parents use education savings accounts in states such as Arizona and Florida. These micro-education savings accounts

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About These Correlations

Policy matches are calculated using a hybrid approach: initial candidates are found using semantic similarity between bill summaries and Project 2025 policy text, then an AI model (Llama 3.1 70B) provides detailed alignment ratings and analysis. Ratings range from 1 (minimal alignment) to 5 (very strong alignment). This analysis does not imply direct causation or intent.

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