GoKawiil
Tech News
Chicago Public Schools says it is exploring ways to block Google's AI Overviews from student search results, and will switch to another search provider if it cannot do so. The move follows Google's announcement that K-12 schools must accept its AI services to keep access to Search, prompting protests in Chicago and Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Google announced that starting next year, AI features like Gemini and Gemini Notebook will be turned off by default for K-12 student accounts, requiring school administrators to manually enable them. However, schools that choose to keep AI disabled will also lose access to Google Search for those student accounts, since the company says the two are deeply integrated.
Google will default to disabling AI tools for K-12 student accounts starting early next year unless administrators opt in to enable them. However, schools that choose to block AI features entirely will also lose student access to Google Search, since the company says search and AI are now deeply integrated in its product.
Google announced it is changing default settings so Gemini, Gemini Notebook, Gemini in Classroom and Google Search will be off for K-12 student accounts until administrators turn them on. The company told Engadget and the New York Times that because Search and AI are deeply integrated, schools that opt out of AI tools will also see Search blocked for students, with a message explaining its unavailability. The move reverses an August change that had enabled some AI features by default in Classroom after educator backlash.
Google told The New York Times that K-12 schools which opt out of its Gemini AI tools will also lose access to Google Search entirely, unless administrators explicitly turn the features on. The change was detailed in a Tuesday education update, where Google said Gemini, Gemini Notebook, Gemini in Classroom, and Search will all be off by default and bundled together as a single setting.
Frederick County's school board voted 6-1 to prohibit AI tools from pre-K through 12th grade, reversing its earlier decision to let middle and high school students use Google Gemini with teacher permission. Exceptions remain for lessons teaching about AI and for accommodations for students with disabilities. The reversal comes just weeks after Gemini was introduced to older students this school year.
A new Gallup/Walton Family Foundation poll finds only 32% of American adults are satisfied with K-12 education quality, an 11-point drop over two years and the lowest mark in 27 years of polling. Dissatisfaction has climbed to 67%, with Democrats showing the steepest decline—about 19 points since Trump's second term began—while independents and Republicans also reported smaller drops.