(TNS) — The Florida Legislature on Wednesday pushed through a sweeping artificial intelligence package, including adding new measures to regulate the use of AI in schools, before sending one of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ top legislative priorities to the Senate floor.
Florida’s broader push for an “AI Bill of Rights” already extends far beyond the K-12 classroom. The Senate bill would establish residents’ rights to interact with AI systems, including mandatory disclosures when communicating with machines rather than humans, and clear expectations about how companies handle personal and biometric data. If passed, “government agencies” would be prohibited from entering into contracts with companies connected to certain foreign countries.
A belated education provision, adopted Wednesday after the bill cleared a final Senate committee hold, would create the state’s first top-down framework giving parents the right to opt-in their children for the instructional use of AI, as AI technology rapidly infiltrates Florida’s K-12 classrooms.
Under the proposed reform, public and private schools that allow students to access “artificial intelligence educational tools” would have to notify parents before issuing login credentials. Schools must identify the tool, explain its educational purpose, and explain how it will be used in the classroom.
The notice must also explain how parents can opt out, review their child’s account information, and ensure that they do not want to participate. In public schools, if parents opt out, school districts must provide alternative work that allows students to meet equivalent academic requirements without penalty.
The revised bill would shift more responsibility to technology vendors. Once a student account is created, AI companies must establish a mechanism for parents to view their child’s account information and activity within the platform.
The proposed bill would clarify the definition of “AI educational tools” as a separate regulatory category in Florida law, separating it from consumer-facing chatbots, which are addressed elsewhere in the bill.
Lawmakers are acting in a similar fashion as AI invades classrooms across the state, with little unified oversight. A recent analysis from the University of Florida found that less than a quarter of the state’s public school districts explicitly mention AI in their student codes of conduct, and those that do mention AI primarily focus on cheating and plagiarism rather than educational uses.
Policies vary widely between districts. Some are tinkering with AI-powered tutoring and adaptive learning platforms, while others are focused on preventing abuse.
Other states have adopted a patchwork approach. According to AI for Education, more than half have issued AI guidance to schools, but most have stopped short of codifying parental notification and opt-out rights. Ohio recently required school districts to adopt formal AI policies by July, but other states are relying on recommendations that are not legally binding.
At the federal level, the Trump administration is emphasizing America’s dominance in AI and threatening lawsuits over overly burdensome state regulations. Washington’s stance has put Mr. DeSantis and some Florida lawmakers at odds with President Trump over how far states should go in imposing their own AI standards.
Mr. DeSantis has positioned himself as a leading advocate for national AI safeguards, warning that the technology can spew out misinformation, threaten the safety of children and violate personal privacy. The Republican governor is urging lawmakers to rein in the expansion of AI data centers by Big Tech, arguing they are so thirsty that they are draining the state’s water supply and raising utility bills for Floridians.
“What we’re doing is really just exercising our core constitutional responsibility to make sure that the people of the state of Florida are treated well and that their rights and welfare are respected,” DeSantis said at the AI Roundtable in New College, Fla., earlier this month. “We will continue that fight.”
While the Senate has largely accepted the governor’s AI policies, his regulatory push has faced friction elsewhere in Tallahassee.
Some House leaders and industry groups have joined Trump in warning that the definition is too broad, that compliance requirements are too broad, and that aggressive intervention at the national level risks running afoul of Trump’s policies.
House proposals to regulate the use of AI and data centers have not passed a single committee. House Speaker Danny Perez (R-Miami) told reporters Tuesday that he is wary of curbing data center development, arguing that the federal government should make the “first call.”
“I definitely think AI is an issue that should be addressed by the federal government. I have great concerns about the state’s ability to address everything in the technology space,” Perez said. “So even with older technology, we’re not getting it here in the state of Florida, let alone the AI that’s right in front of us.”
At Wednesday’s Appropriations Committee hearing on the Senate bill, lawmakers pointed to anecdotes from individuals and the media about how AI is negatively impacting the mental health and quality of education for K-12 students. Sen. Erin Goulart, R-Vero Beach, said her daughter, a high school student, has witnessed these effects firsthand, prompting her to suggest an age limit on the use of AI for pre-kindergarten students.
“I was really surprised that there is a state-funded program that allows AI to interact with the youngest children,” Goulart said. “It can’t replace the need to actually want to keep your information, and I feel like a lot of these tools actually do that.”
At the same time, Sen. Tom Leake, R-Ormond Beach, who sponsored the bill, emphasized that new regulations should not impede AI’s ability to foster K-12 learning environments. He said an AI company specializing in education advised on a proposed definition that would “allow the use of AI in the classroom in certain circumstances without limiting the ability to support students’ continued learning.”
But Leak said addressing the shortcomings of AI in the classroom is a pressing issue. “If you’re going to wait for Congress, God help you.”
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