Bill > SB720

This bill, the Artificial Intelligence Ready Schools Act, mandates the Maryland State Department of Education to develop and disseminate guidance on the safe, responsible, equitable, and ethical use of artificial intelligence (AI) in K-12 education through an online platform, emphasizing AI literacy within computer science education and ensuring student and teacher needs are central to technology use, while also addressing state and federal privacy and accessibility standards. The Department will also create guidelines, best practices, and evaluative tools, including a rubric, to help local school systems select and assess AI tools, and each local school system must establish an AI policy aligned with this guidance and designate a non-instructional central office coordinator for AI use. Furthermore, the bill establishes the Maryland AI Education Collaborative on Artificial Intelligence in K-12 Education, comprised of various stakeholders including educators, administrators, parents, students, and representatives from educational organizations and institutions, to study AI uses in schools and make recommendations on guidance, professional development, and policy adoption, with the Collaborative reporting its findings annually. The bill also requires AI literacy to be a component of workforce preparation and computer science standards for K-12 education and mandates the Department to provide professional development for educators and school leaders on the professional and instructional use of AI, including ethical considerations, basic concepts, and classroom applications, which must be offered during the workday or as a course eligible for licensure renewal.