NEW YORK — The American Federation of Teachers and the United Federation of Teachers announced Tuesday that they have signed a legally binding agreement with artificial intelligence company Anthropic that the unions say makes AI safety, privacy and transparency standards enforceable in thousands of U.S. K-12 schools.
According to the AFT, the national AI Safety and Privacy Standard for Schools automatically applies to Anthropic’s existing agreements with school districts that use Claude for Teachers, the company’s AI tool for educators.
The unions said the agreement rests on three enforceable principles. Student data may be used only for authorized educational purposes, may never be sold or used for targeted advertising, and schools control how long it is kept and when it is deleted. Educators remain in charge of instructional and other consequential decisions. And the company must provide plain-language information about how its AI products work, what data they collect and what their shortcomings are.
“This legally binding contract is how we build a world where algorithms and technology can never replace human judgment, relationships or responsibility,” said AFT President Randi Weingarten, who said the deal comes amid an almost total absence of federal and state AI regulation.
Elizabeth Kelly, head of beneficial deployments at Anthropic, said, “As society adapts to AI, we must work to protect and enhance the deeply important work of teachers.” She added, “That is only possible if teachers, students and school systems trust us.”
Michael Mulgrew, president of the 200,000-member UFT in New York City, said that because the federal government has not stepped in, teachers unions are working to hold AI companies accountable.
The agreement builds on the National Academy for AI Instruction, a New York City-based training partnership. The AFT said Anthropic is a founding partner of the academy along with the AFT, the UFT, Microsoft and OpenAI, and that the company had already committed to the principles before Tuesday’s announcement formally put them into effect.
Anthropic launched Claude for Teachers in July, giving verified U.S. K-12 educators free access to its Claude AI system along with a library of teaching skills and links to curricula aligned with academic standards in all 50 states, according to the release.
The AFT, which says it represents 1.875 million members including teachers, school staff, higher education faculty, public employees and nurses, has pressed for limits on AI in classrooms. In May, as part of a 10-point plan, the union called for banning student-facing AI in elementary school, banning screens in kindergarten through second grade and barring “social companion” chatbots for children under 16.
This report is based on information from the American Federation of Teachers.
Source: American Federation of Teachers
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