🛝 CEOs Push for AI Education, Pandemic Relief Funds, and Social Media Harm

Welcome to Playground Post, a bi-weekly newsletter that keeps education innovators ahead of what’s next.

Here’s what we have on deck for today…

• Tech Titans Rally: CEOs Demand AI & CS in Every School

• How Three Districts Invested Their Pandemic Relief Funds

• Parents and Kids’ View on Social Media Harm

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CEOs Demand AI & CS in Every School

Over 250 top CEOs, including heavy hitters like Microsoft’s Satya Nadella, Etsy’s Josh Silverman, and Uber’s Dara Khosrowshahi, put their names in an open letter in The New York Times*.* They want to make Artificial Intelligence (AI) and computer science "core components" of K-12 education.

The letter argues it's all about "keeping America competitive." They're not just talking about kids using tech; they want to "prepare our children for the future — to be AI creators, not just consumers.

This is a great opportunity for education innovators who can build training programs and platforms that focus on AI.

Emergency Funds, Permanent Gains: The Districts That Got It Right

While many schools used pandemic relief funds for short-term fixes, three forward-thinking districts made investments that are still paying dividends long after the money ran out.

"My belief about these types of funds is [they] come around one time, and the investment needed to be in things that were tangible, that would be lasting," said Angela Dominguez, superintendent of Donna ISD in Texas.

The results speak for themselves:

• Donna ISD: Third-grade reading proficiency jumped from 9% to 31% in just two years

• Fulton County, GA: Outpaced state averages in literacy achievement

• Guilford County, NC: Students recovered math skills faster than peers in other large cities

For education innovators, the opportunity is clear: schools are hungry for sustainable solutions that deliver measurable results, not quick fixes that disappear when funding dries up.

Parents and Teens Finally Agree: Social Media Can Be Harmful

For the first time, we're seeing significant agreement between generations that social media has downsides.

New Pew Research data from nearly 1,400 teen-parent pairs reveals nearly half of Gen Z teens say social media harms people their age.

45% admit they spend too much time scrolling, 40% believe it hurts their productivity, and 45% say that social media prevents them from getting enough sleep.

What's fascinating is that teens themselves are increasingly questioning their relationship with social media, creating an opening to offer solutions teens might actually embrace.

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We’ll be back with another edition on Friday. See you then!

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