🛝 Teachers Flock to Virtual Schools, AI Companions Bad for Teens, 20 States Ban Phones

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

This week's reality check: Teachers are choosing virtual schools for work-life balance while parents express record-low confidence in education. Meanwhile, teens are forming emotional bonds with AI companions, and states are locking down phones during school hours.

💎 Data Gem

Only 35% of Americans are satisfied with U.S. K-12 schools - the lowest Gallup has ever recorded.

Teachers Are Choosing Virtual Schools. And They're Not Looking Back

Post-pandemic, thousands of teachers have made a choice that might seem counterintuitive: they're voluntarily teaching fully online.

About 2.5% of K-12 students are now enrolled in full-time virtual education. 

Teachers like Molly Hamill say the flexibility is worth it. 

No cafeteria duty. No bus supervision. No classroom management of kids throwing chairs.

"The trade-off for not having to do classroom management of behavioral issues is huge," Hamill explained. "If the kid is mean in the chat, I turn off the chat. If kids aren't listening, I can mute everyone."

Courtney Entsminger teaches 348 middle school math students across three grades from her home. She describes herself as a "TikTok star" recording lessons in different formats for different learners. 

Unlike her brick-and-mortar days, she can now drop her daughter off at school and "be 'Mom' and 'Ms. Entsminger' with less fighting for my time."

Teachers say they finally have sustainable work-life balance in a profession notorious for burnout.

The shift to virtual teaching signals a significant opportunity for innovators. 

Districts struggling with teacher shortages could use platforms that support hybrid or fully virtual instruction and tools that help educators build engaging online lessons, manage larger student rosters efficiently, and maintain student connections remotely.

The infrastructure exists. The demand is proven. What's missing are solutions that make virtual teaching sustainable at scale.

72% of Teens Use AI Companions. Schools Are Scrambling to Respond

AI companions like Character.AI aren't just popular - they're everywhere. 

A Common Sense Media survey found 72% of teens have used them at least once, with over half interacting "at least a few times a month."

1 in 3 teens use these tools for "social interaction and relationships, including role-playing, romantic interactions, emotional support, friendship, or conversation practice."

The risks are real. 

Megan Garcia testified before a Senate subcommittee last week about her 14-year-old son's suicide death, which she attributes to AI companions on Character.AI. 

Her wrongful death lawsuit against Character Technologies is still pending in federal court.

The Federal Trade Commission is now investigating seven tech companies (including Character Technologies, OpenAI, X, and Meta) about how their AI companions impact children and teens. 

OpenAI announced it will implement new teen guardrails and parental controls this month.

Laura Erickson-Schroth, chief medical officer at The Jed Foundation, warns that AI companions provide "emotional support that isn't coming from a human being" and frequently give young people misinformation.

Schools need an AI strategy, but the challenge goes beyond policy. Districts should partner with parents and students to address these tools directly.

Erickson-Schroth recommends digital literacy programs where students act as "detectives" exploring how AI companions work, where they get information, and how they're most likely to be wrong.

20 States Now Enforce Bell-to-Bell Phone Bans

An ABC News analysis found that 20 states have completely banned wireless devices for the entire instructional day. 

Another 17 states leave the decision to local districts, while 16 have more relaxed approaches.

New York City's nearly one million students are now subject to a bell-to-bell ban. 

Oregon, Arkansas, Texas, and Virginia have similar policies requiring phones be stored away from students.

Teachers say the bans work. 

Julia Casey in Missouri noted she doesn't have to "correct that behavior" anymore, and students "stay on task a lot more." 

Kansas Commissioner Randy Watson said districts implementing bell-to-bell bans report that "kids are more engaged, kids are happier, there's less bullying, less distractions academically."

But the emergency communication concern is now even bigger. Parents worry about reaching their children during school shootings or other crises.

But D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Lewis Ferebee argues that during emergencies, "the last thing we want students to do is to be on their cellphone. We want them to be focused on the guidance and direction that they will be receiving from adults."

The state-level mandates create opportunities for businesses - storage solutions, emergency communication systems that work without student devices, and tools that help districts track and enforce these policies.

⚡️ More quick hits

This week in education:

Zoom commits $10M to AI education — Zoom Cares pledges funding over three years for national and regional grants to expand AI curricula, with first recipients including Code.org and data.org

Schools improving ransomware response — Sophos finds 67% of lower-ed providers stopped attacks before encryption in 2025, indicating maturing defenses, though threats and recovery costs remain high

McGraw Hill brings AI to calculus — New ALEKS module uses machine learning to diagnose prerequisite gaps across 134 topics and generate adaptive learning paths for a high-stakes gateway course

Superintendent turnover hits record — ILO Group data shows 23% of the top 500 districts changed leaders this year, signaling sustained instability in K-12 leadership

🔎 Worth Checking Out

Monthly roundup of resources you might like:

• NCES District Revenue and Expenditure Data 2022-23 — Fresh national and state-level tables on district finances for FY2023, providing essential baseline data for market sizing and pricing strategies

• UK GenAI Literacy Study 2025 — Survey of 60k+ teens and 2,908 teachers shows 66.5% of students and 58% of teachers using AI, with strong calls for training on critical use

• 2025 PDK Poll Results — 57th annual survey shows strong public support for improving teacher pay, addressing shortages, limiting cell phone use, and majority opposition to eliminating the Education Department

• EdChoice August 2025 Polling — Half of Americans say K-12 is on wrong track, ~25% of parents report school switching, mixed views on eliminating Education Department

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