Philadelphia Schools Train 700+ Teachers in Safe AI Use

When Mary Kaplan wanted her fourth graders to truly understand the American Revolution, she turned to artificial intelligence for help creating a perspective-taking activity that made history come alive.

"The kids loved it," said Kaplan, now teaching sixth grade at John H. Taggart School. She used AI to develop an activity where students debated whether they'd be loyalists or revolutionaries based on different colonial roles like shopkeepers or farmers.

But Kaplan didn't just hand the lesson over to a machine. She carefully adjusted the images and wording, using AI as a brainstorming partner rather than a replacement for her teaching expertise.

Her approach reflects exactly what the School District of Philadelphia hopes to achieve with its careful rollout of AI in classrooms. The district is taking lessons from what went wrong with social media and applying them to this new technology.

"We did not pay attention to social media 15 years ago," said Fran Newberg, deputy chief in the district's Office of Educational Technology. "Fifteen years later, social media has harmed our children. We want to be much more educated consumers of AI."

Since July, more than 700 teachers have filled professional development seats focused on AI literacy, safety, and responsible use. Every school now has a technology coach, and the district plans specialized training for high school teachers in November.

The training doesn't push teachers to use AI. Instead, it helps them understand the technology well enough to guide students in using it ethically and spotting its limitations, including AI-generated misinformation and biased responses.

"We tell teachers they don't have to use AI; that's an educator's decision," said Michelle Harris, the district's executive director of educational technology. "But we want them to understand it so they can help students use it ethically and responsibly."

The district has created clear boundaries for different age groups. Elementary and middle school students cannot access chat-based AI tools, while high schoolers can use Google's Gemini within Google Classroom for study guides and quiz review, with filters blocking inappropriate content.

For Kaplan, AI has become particularly valuable for meeting diverse student needs in classrooms with English language learners and special education students. "AI has helped me think beyond my own experiences and those of my colleagues," she said.

The Ripple Effect

The district's partnership with the University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of Education has created a program called Pioneering AI in School Systems. It started with administrators, expanded to school leaders, and now focuses on classroom teachers who work directly with students every day.

This measured approach could serve as a model for other school systems wrestling with how to embrace helpful technology while protecting children from its risks. By prioritizing education over prohibition, Philadelphia is helping teachers become thoughtful guides rather than gatekeepers.

The goal is simple: use AI to lighten administrative burdens and spark creative teaching, while keeping critical thinking and human connection at the center of learning.