Olympia Kazi on ed tech failures and need for moratorium

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Hello?

We hear you.

You may begin.

Thank you for this critical hearing and your great questions.

My name is Olympia Kazi.

I'm a parent of a third and a fifth grader and the creator of Screen Break in District 6.

Hearing the testimonies of the DOE reps here today, it is clear that we have an immensely serious break in communications.

They don't realize what is going on in their classrooms and that their mandate for device-based screeners, Google Classroom, curriculums like HDMH, interventions like What I Need, We,

and online academic so-called enrichment choices that are pre-approved as free online games have opened a tsunami on New York City public school students.

Our educators, and as a result our students, are inundated by learning tools that we actually know don't work.

There is a Columbia Teachers College 2024 study led by Karen Frout that has indicated that we need textbooks, papers, and pencil if we care about the students.

There is no separation between AI and edtech right now.

Their business model is that these companies integrate untested AI in every step of the way.

So let's be clear, not only do we need a moratorium for two years right away, but while we're doing the moratorium, we need to develop not just guidelines, but also meaningful tools for enforcement and oversight.

My fifth grader used Canva AI twice this year in social studies and in literacy.

He used YouTube consistently and he plays Play Protege.

Hearing the first deputy chancellor I said this morning was a slam.

She said that they do not endorse these things and that they are not supposed to be used.

They said, oh, we approved the free account.

Has he seen the free account?

The free account prompts you to buy an account every five minutes during the so-called lesson.

My third grader gets constantly asked by Google Gemini if she needs some help because she's in Google Classroom.

So let's be honest.

What are we talking about?

These things are all integrated.

IRADI just became mandatory for math next fall.

IRADI has AI and is being sued.

And it's not working.

It is an issue of equity above all.

This is a system that was already failing before the pandemic.

And right now we have way too many kids that they are unhoused in our system.

Time expired.

So, sorry.

So let's do the moratorium, and I'm going to submit also written comments if my time has expired.

But there were a lot of things that were said today that were not true.

And it's sad to know that DOE doesn't know what is going on.

So thank you for hosting the hearing.

Thank you so much.

Next, we have Mariela Benavides.