Maloney summarizes concerns about mandates, home device policies, testing, and consent

Thanks a lot.

And I will, I'll end my questions here.

I just wanted to, you know, there are a few points that I think, you know, we should continue a conversation around and work together closely, right?

One, I think, is the point that we mentioned, which is the point that we mentioned, which is

is even with the, one, mandates versus recommendations, and I think with those things, even as recommendations, there are a lot, I think what we're seeing today, the theme of the hearing is there are a lot of

areas, loopholes or workarounds or other things that are unaddressed that we need more specific solutions around, right?

If you think about when laptops come home,

What are the restrictions there?

I mean, frankly, I don't think they should be coming home for K-5, but, you know, what is DOE doing to restrict and monitor?

Because I think putting the burden entirely on parents is too difficult of a burden for them, and frankly not fair to parents to have to figure out how to monitor yet another device at home and what kind of access you have there.

So I think there is a real question of what comes home, when, how often, is there storage for laptops in the classroom to the extent that students are using them from 3 to 5.

On top of that, you know, there's...

Really a question of when is it required to do homework, really required to do homework on the computer, and when it's not.

Are there policies in place for parents to opt out of online testing?

I know there's a larger issue, and NICE has been big on this, about

the standardized tests, but even the assessments going forward, can parents opt out of that to take pencil and paper tests, which I think are so important too.

And, you know, I think those are, I think cover the main areas.

Oh, then the last one, I think, was around consent when it comes to data sharing.

And I think we've got to really revisit and look at, as the landscape changes both legally, as the problems with AI and digital tech explodes,

rather than relying on that exception in that federal statute, are there more affirmative consent policies that we have to have in place regarding the sharing of student data?

And so I bring those all up just to say.

With the when big tech is allowed in the classroom, even when there are policies put in place, there are many other doors that are opened that create their own issues and their own problems.

And so we all need to be a lot bolder in how we address a problem that's really outpacing our ability to keep up in the current moment.

And so these are just a few areas that I think going forward we really need to be paying attention to and working together on.

I look forward to continued conversation around that.

And I'll turn it over to Chair Dinowitz, unless there's anything else you want to add.

I just wanted to thank you for that statement.

I want to thank you for, I know we're not done yet, but the opportunity for us to go a little deeper into the policy and also to receive your questions and your final statement as some feedback for us to keep guiding us forward.

So thank you for that.

We appreciate it.

And I appreciate it very much, too, and your willingness to partner together to really address these issues in an effective way.

So thank you.

Thank you.