NOTICE in the News
NOTICE Coalition and 40+ Groups Demand Ban on Federal Funding of AI-Powered School Surveillance
Washington, DC, March 18, 2024—No Tech Criminalization in Education Coalition (NOTICE) and 40+ other civil rights and education organizations sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Education (ED) today demanding a total ban on federal funding for school surveillance systems that rely on algorithms and other AI-enabled technology for predictive policing and other harmful practices that further criminalize Black and brown youth.
The ED letter is in response to the growing expansion of AI-enabled technology and surveillance systems to collect and analyze student data, including those derived from personal and family records, cell phone location data, facial recognition, and social media accounts. In addition to requesting a ban on both grant funding and agency appropriations funds for school surveillance, the coalition has also asked ED to provide guidance to school districts on how to evaluate algorithmic technology for racial bias and act against the unlawful and discriminatory use of AI against students.
“We are alarmed by the growing use of surveillance technologies to expand police presence in schools and expose students to greater police contact, exclusionary discipline, and school pushout,” the letter states. “We view these developments as a dangerous new chapter in the school-to-prison pipeline and mass criminalization of Black, brown, and Indigenous youth and other marginalized young people.”
Research shows that such security and “school-hardening” measures are not necessarily keeping students safe. In fact, the evidence shows that students in schools with expanded surveillance face harsher discipline and experience worse academic outcomes. AI-driven school surveillance technologies run the risk of increasing contact between students and law enforcement and contribute to the schools-to-prison pipeline, which disproportionately harms Black and brown youth, LBGTQIA+ students, and those with disabilities.
Community advocates and technologists have also raised questions about the scientific validity of these technologies, given that many lack independent assessment and are often rooted in histories of scientific racism. The coalition notes that because police surveillance technologies present a direct threat to the civil and human rights of youth and young adults from historically marginalized communities, immediate federal action is necessary.
US Department of Education Letter Signatories:
ACLU-MN, ACT 4 SA, Advancement Project, Advocating 4 Kids Inc, API Equality-LA, Asian Americans Advancing Justice AAJC, Aspen Institute: Forum For Community Solutions, Austin Justice Coalition, Autistic Self Advocacy Network, Black Lives Matter Sacramento, Borealis Philanthropy, Center for Law and Social Policy, Communities Transforming Policing Fund, Community Catalyst, Dignity in Schools Campaign, Disability Rights Florida, Education for Liberation MN, Education Justice Alliance, Education Law Center, Education Law Center Pennsylvania, Encode Justice, Encode Justice Florida, Federal School Discipline Coalition GLSEN, InterReligious Task Force on Central America, Jessica Wright, Juvenile Law Center Midwest Center for School Transformation, NAACP Florida State Conference, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., National Action Network, National Immigration Law Center, National Women's Law Center, NOTICE Coalition, PASCO Coalition: People Against the Surveillance of Children and Overpolicing, Pasco Democratic Public Education Caucus, Restore the Fourth, Sayra and Neil Meyerhoff Center for Families-Children and the Courts Surveillance, Safety Not Surveillance Coalition, Stop the Cradle to Prison Algorithm Coalition, Technology Oversight Project, Teachers Unite, The Gault Center, True Colors United, Twin Cities Innovation Alliance, United School Employees of Pasco – Retired
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About the NOTICE Coalition - No Tech Criminalization in Education (NOTICE)
The mission of the NOTICE Coalition is to build a national movement to end the use of data and technology that surveils, polices, and/or criminalizes young people and their communities. These technologies include predictive policing, data-sharing agreements, facial recognition, social media monitoring, automated license plate readers, gang databases, school hardening, biometric surveillance, and student device monitoring, and so-called “early warning systems.” Learn more about the NOTICE Coalition here.