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Arab Times
24-04-2025
- Business
- Arab Times
Trump signs executive order to expand AI education across US
WASHINGTON, April 24: On April 23, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to boost artificial intelligence (AI) education in the U.S., aiming to prepare students for careers in this rapidly growing field. This follows a January order reversing Biden-era restrictions on U.S. AI leadership. The new initiative establishes a White House Task Force on AI Education, chaired by Michael Kratsios, to oversee efforts in expanding AI learning opportunities. The order directs the Departments of Education and Labor to offer AI courses and certification programs for high school students and to collaborate with states on broader AI education initiatives. It also emphasizes training educators to integrate AI into classrooms and directs the National Science Foundation to research AI's role in education. Additionally, the Labor Department will expand AI apprenticeships. A key part of the plan is the Presidential AI Challenge, which will highlight AI achievements by students and educators and foster collaboration between government, industry, and academia. Despite bipartisan support for AI in education, questions remain about its implementation, especially after significant cuts to the Education Department. Trump also signed six other education-related orders on April 23, targeting issues like "woke ideology" in university accreditation and supporting Historically Black Colleges and Universities. He emphasized the importance of AI, noting massive investments in the field. While both Democrats and Republicans agree on the need for AI education, they differ on the federal government's role. Additionally, a lawsuit is pending over the mass layoffs at the Education Department, with a court hearing set for April 25.
USA Today
24-04-2025
- Business
- USA Today
President Trump signs executive order boosting AI in K-12 schools
President Trump signs executive order boosting AI in K-12 schools Trump's order directs the federal Education Department and the National Science Foundation to prioritize awarding grants and conducting research related to artificial intelligence. Show Caption Hide Caption What we know now about Trump's executive order on Education Department Now that President Trump has signed an executive order to dismantle the Education Department, what happens next? Here is what we know now. WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump signed an executive order on April 23 aimed at bringing artificial intelligence into K-12 schools in hopes of building a U.S. workforce equipped to use and advance the rapidly growing technology. The directive, reported first by USA TODAY before Trump's signing, instructs the U.S. Education and Labor Departments to create opportunities for high school students to take AI courses and certification programs, and to work with states to promote AI education. Trump also directed the Education Department to favor the application of AI in discretionary grant programs for teacher training, the National Science Foundation to prioritize research on the use of AI in education, and the Labor Department to expand AI-related apprenticeships. "This is a big deal, because AI seems to be where it's at," Trump said before he signed the order in the Oval Office. The order ‒ one of seven education-related directives Trump signed April 23 ‒ underscores an area of bipartisan concern: how best to incorporate AI into teaching. Both Democrats and Republicans have expressed fears about American students falling behind other nations, particularly China, as technology becomes more advanced and integrated into the workforce. "We have literally trillions of dollars being invested in AI," Trump said. "Somebody today, a very smart person, said that AI is the way to the future. I don't know if that's right or not, but certainly very smart people are investing in it." In addition, Trump's order creates a White House Task Force on AI Education, which includes Education Secretary Linda McMahon and Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, and will be chaired by Michael Kratsios, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. The group will develop a "Presidential AI Challenge," the White House said, which will highlight and encourage the use of AI in the classroom. The task force will also be responsible for establishing public-private partnerships to provide resources for AI education in K-12 schools. Other executive orders signed by Trump target so-called "woke ideology" in the accreditation of universities; reinforce laws requiring the disclosure of foreign gifts by colleges and universities; and create a new White House initiative to support Historically Black Colleges and Universities, or HBCUs. Read more: Which college degrees are best? How AI is throwing a wrench in the debate. A bipartisan congressional report issued in December 2024 said, "K-12 educators need resources to promote AI literacy." However, it also acknowledged that AI in the workforce and schools must be deployed within the bounds of labor and antidiscrimination laws. Though conservatives and liberals agree on the need to embrace some aspects of AI in schools, they have clashed over the role of federal regulations in that process. "AI will likely revolutionize the way students learn, but the federal government doesn't need to be involved," concluded a Republican recap from an April committee hearing on AI in education. Read more: How AI is affecting the way kids learn to read and write The Washington Post was the first to report on April 22 about a draft executive order circulating among federal departments to incorporate AI into K-12 classrooms. Trump's executive order instructs the labor secretary to financially incentivize AI-related apprenticeships. Apprenticeships have been widely embraced in recent years by Democrats and Republicans, including McMahon, as essential alternatives to college. The new White House initiative comes after an embarrassing viral moment for McMahon, who on April 8 confused AI with A.1., a popular steak sauce, during a conference in San Diego. (Initially, she used the acronym correctly, but stumbled as she continued her public remarks.) Read more: Education Secretary Linda McMahon confuses AI with A1; sauce brand capitalizes on blunder Shortly after his inauguration in January, Trump signed an order rescinding regulations for AI expansion that had previously been adopted by former President Joe Biden. Trump also promoted a $500 billion private investment from three tech companies that planned to build new AI data centers. In March, President Trump signed a separate order seeking to dismantle the Education Department. The agency still exists, however (though with just half the workforce it once had). Only Congress can entirely abolish federal agencies. Read more: Their time at the Education Department may be over. The grieving isn't. A coalition of states sued the Trump administration more than a month ago, alleging the mass layoffs at the Education Department were illegal. A court hearing to consider a preliminary injunction on the firings is set for April 25. Joey Garrison is a White House correspondent for USA TODAY. Follow him on X at @joeygarrison. Zachary Schermele is an education reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach him by email at zschermele@ Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele and Bluesky at @
Forbes
24-04-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Inside The Trump AI Education Executive Order & Why It Matters
President Trump put AI firmly on the educational agenda when he signed an executive order today aimed at K-12 schools. The White House described this as a forward-looking initiative to prepare young Americans for a future where AI is woven into nearly every aspect of life and work. In the eyes of the administration, the order is about more than education reform. It's about national competitiveness. Will Scharf, White House staff secretary, emphasized the administration's rationale: 'The basic idea of this executive order is to ensure that we properly train the workforce of the future by ensuring that school children, young Americans, are adequately trained in AI tools.' At the heart of the policy is a newly formed White House Task Force on AI Education. It brings together leadership from education, labor and science agencies. Its mission is to create a national roadmap for introducing AI into schools. The task force is expected to propose partnerships with tech companies, non-profits and universities. The goal is to build a system where students learn how to use AI tools and gain the capacity to think critically about their use. That means not just using technology but questioning it. Understanding its limits. Seeing its potential and its pitfalls. A major part of the initiative is the upcoming Presidential AI Challenge. Though few details have been released, it will likely showcase how students and educators can creatively apply AI. Whether it becomes a meaningful part of the strategy or just a ceremonial gesture remains to be seen. The Department of Labor will also be involved. It has been instructed to direct funding toward AI apprenticeships and certification programs. This includes efforts to give high school students early access to workforce credentials tied to AI-related careers. How accessible these programs will be to students in rural or underserved communities is still unclear. Questions remain around infrastructure, teacher preparedness and equitable access. Embedding AI into the curriculum won't be simple. Schools will need new resources. Teachers will need training. Administrators will need time to adjust their systems. Around the world, other countries are moving ahead with their own AI education agendas. These offer a glimpse into how such strategies might evolve and what the U.S. could learn from them. In China, AI education is not a side program. It's becoming central to the national agenda. In Beijing, public schools are now required to offer a minimum of eight hours of AI instruction each year. These lessons begin in elementary school and continue through high school. More broadly, AI is being woven into national textbooks and teaching methods as part of a long-term plan to establish China as a global education powerhouse by 2035. Singapore has also taken decisive steps. Its national initiative includes mandatory AI training for teachers across all grade levels by 2026. The curriculum will not only teach technical skills but also address the ethical and societal dimensions of AI. Singapore's approach reflects a belief that AI literacy must include both the power and the potential harm of the technology. Estonia has gone a different route, partnering directly with OpenAI. The Baltic nation plans to roll out ChatGPT Edu to every secondary student and teacher in the country. The program begins in September 2025 with 10th and 11th graders. The focus is not just on using AI, but on making it a personalized and adaptable learning assistant. These countries are taking a different path, but the direction is the same. These governments are waking up to the reality that AI literacy could become as important as reading and math. It is no surprise that the U.S. feels it is necessary to do similar. The executive order shows intent, but turning that into impact will be a longer journey. Schools will need support to adopt AI responsibly. Policymakers will need to ensure rural and low-income districts don't get left behind. The broader question for the U.S. is less about policy and more about purpose. What kind of relationship do we want young people to have with AI? Should they be passive users or thoughtful creators? Do we want them to compete with machines or learn how to work alongside them? The executive order opens the door. What happens next will determine whether America walks through it or watches others take the lead. This isn't just an education issue. It's an economic one. It's cultural. It's generational. It's about giving the next wave of students the tools they need to thrive in a world that's already being shaped by artificial intelligence.
USA Today
23-04-2025
- Business
- USA Today
Exclusive: President Trump to sign executive order bringing AI to K-12 schools
Exclusive: President Trump to sign executive order bringing AI to K-12 schools The order will direct the federal Education Department and the National Science Foundation to prioritize awarding grants and conducting research related to artificial intelligence. Show Caption Hide Caption What we know now about Trump's executive order on Education Department Now that President Trump has signed an executive order to dismantle the Education Department, what happens next? Here is what we know now. WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump will sign an executive order Wednesday aimed at bringing artificial intelligence into K-12 schools, according to a senior administration official. The directive, which Trump is set to sign from the Oval Office, instructs the U.S. Education and Labor Departments to create opportunities for high school students to take AI courses and certification programs, and to work with states to promote AI education, according to a White House summary of the order reviewed by USA TODAY. Trump's action will also direct the Education Department to prioritize the application of AI in discretionary grant programs for teacher training, the National Science Foundation to prioritize research on the use of AI in education, and the Labor Department to expand AI-related apprenticeships. The order ‒ one of seven education-related directives Trump is expected to sign April 23 ‒ underscores an area of bipartisan concern in Washington, namely how best to incorporate AI into teaching. Both Democrats and Republicans have expressed fears about American students falling behind other nations, particularly China, as the technology becomes more advanced and integrated into the workforce. In addition, Trump will create a White House Task Force on AI Education, which will include Education Secretary Linda McMahon and Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, and will be chaired by Michael Kratsios, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. The group will develop a "Presidential AI Challenge," the White House said, which will highlight and encourage the use of AI in the classroom. The task force will also be responsible for establishing public-private partnerships to provide resources for AI education in K-12 schools. Read more: Which college degrees are best? How AI is throwing a wrench in the debate. A bipartisan congressional report issued in December 2024 said, "K-12 educators need resources to promote AI literacy." However, it also acknowledged that AI in the workforce and schools must be deployed within the bounds of labor and antidiscrimination laws. Though conservatives and liberals agree on the need to embrace some aspects of AI in schools, they have clashed over the role of federal regulations in that process. "AI will likely revolutionize the way students learn, but the federal government doesn't need to be involved," concluded a Republican recap from an April committee hearing on AI in education. Read more: How AI is affecting the way kids learn to read and write The Washington Post was the first to report on April 22 about a draft executive order circulating among federal departments to incorporate AI into K-12 classrooms. Trump's executive order will instruct the labor secretary to financially incentivize AI-related apprenticeships. Apprenticeships have been widely embraced in recent years by Democrats and Republicans, including McMahon, as essential alternatives to college. The new White House initiative comes after an embarrassing viral moment for McMahon, who on April 8 confused AI with A1, a popular steak sauce, during a conference in San Diego. (Initially, she used the acronym correctly, but she stumbled as she continued her public remarks.) Read more: Education Secretary Linda McMahon confuses AI with A1; sauce brand capitalizes on blunder Shortly after his inauguration in January, Trump signed an order rescinding regulations for AI expansion that had previously been adopted by former President Joe Biden. Trump also promoted a $500 billion private investment from three tech companies that planned to build new AI data centers. In March, President Trump signed a separate order seeking to dismantle the Education Department. The agency still exists, however (though with just half the workforce it once had). Only Congress can entirely abolish federal agencies. Read more: Their time at the Education Department may be over. The grieving isn't. A coalition of states sued the Trump administration more than a month ago, alleging the mass layoffs at the Education Department were illegal. A court hearing to consider a preliminary injunction on the firings is set for April 25. Joey Garrison is a White House correspondent for USA TODAY. Follow him on X at @joeygarrison. Zachary Schermele is an education reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach him by email at zschermele@ Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele and Bluesky at @
