Submission + - Bill Gates Gives Governors $650K to 'Guide K-12 Education Policy Related to AI'
theodp writes: Among the latest round of grants from the [Bill] Gates Foundation is one for $650,000 to the National Governors Association (NGA) Center for Best Practices, the stated purpose of which is "to equip governors with knowledge and resources to guide K-12 education policy related to artificial intelligence."
The grant aligns nicely with the Gates Foundation's Monday announcement that it is betting big on AI to boost global health, agriculture and education, starting with a $1 billion "down payment", 40% of which is earmarked for education. It also comes amid a pushback against the use of AI in K-12 in schools, including moratoriums on K-12 generative AI use in the nation's two largest cities, New York City and Los Angeles.
If Gates' push for the nation's Governors to drive K-12 AI policy seems a bit familiar, it may be because Bill Gates was among the so-called CEOS for CS, a who's who of tech leaders whose Code.org-organized PR campaign led to the nation's Governors signing of a compact committing to expand K-12 CS education (including a CS graduation requirement) in their states at the NGA's Summer 2022 Meeting. Ironically, the massive post-COVID tech company layoffs soon followed and after that came the job-disrupting breakout of generative AI, which prompted the tech-backed nonprofit Code.org (who subsequently rebranded as CodeAI) to round up 250+ CEOs for another PR campaign in 2025, this time calling upon state education leaders and policymakers to pivot and further commit to making AI education available for every student as part of a push for 'policy solutions that ensure every student has access to the foundational skills needed to succeed in a world enabled by AI.'
As Yogi Berra might say, "It's déjà vu all over again!"
The grant aligns nicely with the Gates Foundation's Monday announcement that it is betting big on AI to boost global health, agriculture and education, starting with a $1 billion "down payment", 40% of which is earmarked for education. It also comes amid a pushback against the use of AI in K-12 in schools, including moratoriums on K-12 generative AI use in the nation's two largest cities, New York City and Los Angeles.
If Gates' push for the nation's Governors to drive K-12 AI policy seems a bit familiar, it may be because Bill Gates was among the so-called CEOS for CS, a who's who of tech leaders whose Code.org-organized PR campaign led to the nation's Governors signing of a compact committing to expand K-12 CS education (including a CS graduation requirement) in their states at the NGA's Summer 2022 Meeting. Ironically, the massive post-COVID tech company layoffs soon followed and after that came the job-disrupting breakout of generative AI, which prompted the tech-backed nonprofit Code.org (who subsequently rebranded as CodeAI) to round up 250+ CEOs for another PR campaign in 2025, this time calling upon state education leaders and policymakers to pivot and further commit to making AI education available for every student as part of a push for 'policy solutions that ensure every student has access to the foundational skills needed to succeed in a world enabled by AI.'
As Yogi Berra might say, "It's déjà vu all over again!"
