On AI and K-12 Education

The question of AI in education always seems to be accompanied by doom and gloom. Conversations focus on the “misuse” of AI tools in the classroom, especially fears of students cheating or taking shortcuts. As a college student, I’ve even seen peers – from big-name universities in New York to local colleges in California – have their academic standing jeopardized by accusations of using AI inappropriately. Educators, too, have grown anxious. In one recent survey, 63% of teachers reported students at their school getting in trouble for allegedly using generative AI on assignments, a sharp increase over the previous year. Yet human nature tends to zoom in on the negatives. It’s reminiscent of how many people fixate on nuclear power’s potential for disaster while overlooking it as a green energy source; similarly, we’ve been so worried about how AI could go wrong that we risk missing how much it can go right. So, does AI have a place in education? The answer is a resounding YES, but to understand why, we must look at how technology in the classroom evolved post-COVID and how AI can be harnessed for good.

The Pandemic Push

In March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic took the world by storm and education entered the “wild west” of remote learning. Schools worldwide shut their doors, and overnight, teachers were lecturing to little video avatars on 15″ laptop screens while students (often with cameras off) tried to learn amid distractions at home. This unprecedented situation forced a massive integration of technology into the classroom that is still going strong today. By April 2020, an estimated 98% of educational institutions had moved the majority of their classes online. Usage of digital learning platforms exploded: for example, in just the first two weeks of the transition, the Canvas learning management system saw a 60% surge in concurrent users and a 10× increase in video uploads, while Blackboard’s online classroom usage jumped 36-fold. Video conferencing tools like Zoom became daily staples, with Zoom’s overall usage rocketed by 20× as schools and colleges rushed to replicate face-to-face classes virtually. It was a chaotic time, but it proved that large-scale online learning was possible.

Even now in the post-pandemic era, many of these technologies have proved they’re here to stay. Educators, students, and their families discovered that EdTech tools could make learning more flexible and accessible. In fact, K–12 schools today use nearly twice as much education technology as they did in 2020. Platforms like learning management systems (Canvas, Brightspace, Schoology, etc.), digital assignments, and video lessons are now an entrenched part of schooling. Speaking from personal experience as a student, Canvas integration started for me right during the pandemic, and has stayed on ever since. Many schools have also kept remote or hybrid learning options open by design. In short, the pandemic’s disruption accelerated education’s digital transformation by years, if not decades. Classrooms are now more “wired” than ever, setting the stage for the next frontier: integrating artificial intelligence.

We the Students

Before you assess where AI fits into education, you need to ask: what do the people in education actually want? Because if a tool doesn’t meet those needs, it doesn’t matter how “cutting edge” it is or if it's YC-backed. 

I (and for most of my fellow students) want learning to fit into their lives and feel meaningful. Einstein has this really overused quote saying that "Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid," but the same principle is applicable to students as well. And, according to surveys, we (as in students) overwhelmingly want two things: Flexibility for learning and engaging materials (Exhibit 1).

Additionally, students talk about wanting “high-quality, up-to-date content” and interactive classes with lots of peer and instructor interaction, a far cry from the current lectures you see in most K-12 institutions. And whether they’re in high school or university, students increasingly ask, “Will this help me in real life?” They want clear connections from classroom to career (or just adulting in general). Three out of four young people (14–19 years old) say their education should give them the tools and skills needed for their future careers. College students, too, value “real-world skills application” as a key part of a good program. With a college diploma losing its value day by day, students everywhere want school to feel less like a checklist of facts and more like a personalized, engaging journey toward their goals.

What About The Educators

Teachers and administrators largely share these priorities raised by the students, albeit they view them through the lens of practicality and outcomes. Teachers, for one, are on the lookout for any tool that can grab their students’ attention and help them learn. They also appreciate technology that helps them address different learning needs in their classroom. Ask any teacher about personalization and they’ll tell you how important it is to be able to break out of the one-size-fits-all mold, so each child, whether struggling or advanced, gets the right support. And then there’s the everyday reality of a teacher’s job: the workload. Grading, planning, paperwork, it can be overwhelming for everyone and take away time for “teaching”. And here, too, new tools are taking this further by automating tasks that used to eat up hours. In one 2025 poll, teachers who used AI at least once a week reported saving nearly 6 hours of work per week, essentially six weeks of class time saved over a school year. In other words, the people on the front lines of education are telling us loud and clear what they want: learning experiences that are student-centered, engaging, inclusive, and worth everyone’s time.

How AI Is Used

With both the main beneficiaries (and customers) of EdTech loudly and clearly voicing what they need, we need to look into what exactly how can AI meets those very needs. In the same 2025 poll, teachers (who will be the one who actually deciding on the use of AI in the K-12 system) highlights recent trends: AI have a higher impact across all educational functions, but with a strong suit for preparation and administrative work (Exhibit 2).

Yet teachers are not the only demographic to benefit from integrating AI into education. Since its release, OpenAI’s ChatGPT has flipped the education world upside down. Students, from elementary school (Gen Alpha is really tech savvy) to college and graduate students, have used AI to aid their classroom performance regardless of established moral standards. A recent report highlights that around 90% of students have used some form of AI (Exhibit 3).

This trend, both from the perspective of educators and students have highlights that AI had and will continue to be a part of the education system, regardless if we like it or hate it.

The Big Picture

As we look at this through the investor point of view, it is very clear that this segment is aligning for massive growth in the upcoming years, similar to how Zoom and Canvas dominated during Covid and Quizlet before that. And although AI-focused on education is minute compared to other more established segments within the K12 space (with only a market of roughly $1.5 B according to a recent forecast) it is expected to reach $32B by 2030, representing a massive 36% compound annual growth rate. This underscores a vast addressable market with many niches to fill.

On the funding side, as with many sectors in today’s economy, venture capital for educational technology has indeed suffered heavily. From inflation to higher interest rates to fewer exits in the private markets, this industry is a shadow of its 2021 peak. And with the weakening or potential dismantlement of the Department of Education, which may lead to tighter budgets for school districts across the nation, the pace of growth in this segment has been dampened. Last year, only a few mega rounds made it through, with Bain Capital paid $5.6 B to take PowerSchool private (PowerSchool is a major K12 software provider) and KKR acquired the Canvas learning‑management system maker Instructure for $4.8 B. This year, the same harsh reality has continued, with first‑quarter 2025 deal activity reaching its lowest level since 2014.

Despite this grim reality, a key trend in the education technology startup space is the split between companies building tools for students (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Grammarly and the like) and those building tools for educators (Canvas, Brightspace and so on). According to Y Combinator investment activity since the rise of ChatGPT in late 2022, a whopping 73 % of investments target student tools, while the remainder target teacher tools. Even one of my friends in Australia is even working on a student‑focused AI startup. This trend highlights a key challenge for newcomers in the industry: selling into schools is difficult. School districts operate on limited budgets at the mercy of government funding, and their resources are already stretched just to stay afloat.

Yet one could argue that this tough funding environment presents the perfect opportunity to secure a deal at an attractive valuation. The main focus should be on identifying true disruptors, solutions that serve both teachers and students and that offer a clear path to integration into our education system.

A Case Study: SchoolAI - A Great Investment?

With the big picture now in front of us, we can start to look at specific targets within this space. One standout to me? A startup called SchoolAI. This Series A company is tackling two of the biggest bottlenecks in K‑12 classrooms: keeping students engaged and giving teachers tools that actually work without adding to their workload.

Most EdTech tools pick a side, either student-facing or teacher-focused, but SchoolAI does both. On the student side, their AI tutor “Dot” lives inside something called Spaces. These are interactive, choose-your-own-path lessons that adapt in real-time. It’s like having a teaching assistant who knows when to slow down, when to offer a hint, when to push forward, and when to ask the real teachers for help.

But the magic is really in how it supports teachers. Instead of asking them to learn yet another platform, SchoolAI meets them where they already are. It plugs directly into Google Docs, Google Classroom, and even works through a Chrome extension. Teachers can rewrite a worksheet for English learners with one click or monitor student progress through Mission Control, which gives real-time insights into who’s stuck and who’s ahead.

And all and all, SchoolAI is working. They now support over one million educators across 150+ countries, including all 50 U.S. states. In Utah alone, 80% of districts are using it, that is really (and I mean REALLY) rare for K‑12 adoption, which is usually slow and fragmented and full of layers of bureaucracy.

Funding-wise, SchoolAI has picked up the pace over the past 3 years. They recently completed a Series A led by Insight Partners for $25M just in April, with a post-money valuation of $84M. And in 2023, they had their Seed round completed by Nextview Ventures.

As AI seeps into every sector, education needs tools that are both powerful and responsible. SchoolAI’s teacher-first, privacy-compliant, plug-and-play model hits that sweet spot for both teachers and students. If they can keep executing, they’re well-positioned to become the operating system for AI in the K-12 system. And from an investor’s POV, who wouldn’t want to miss that?

A Bright Future

At this point, it’s no longer a matter of if AI belongs in education, but how we can implement it wisely. We’re past the novelty stage. Students are already using it, teachers are slowly integrating it, and school systems are exploring options. The conversation now needs to move from fear to framework. How do we build guardrails that protect academic integrity without halting progress? How do we ensure equity, privacy, and long-term sustainability? These are the right questions, and it’s already a bit late to start asking them

There’s a massive window of opportunity here. Tools that solve real problems are mission-critical for educators trying to meet growing expectations with limited resources. And for investors, the upside is clear: the AI-in-education space is undercapitalized relative to its potential. But winning in this market won’t come from another homework bot or flashy gimmick, and it’s unlikely that we’re gonna more of the “free money” boom at the beginning of the decade. It’ll come from companies that respect the complexity of K–12, partner with teachers, prove they can stick, and actually make student likes them. Backing those teams now, in this funding winter, is how you build great returns.

Education has always evolved alongside technology. Just a few years ago I was writing on a notebook, using chalkboard in the classroom, and now all I ever use is an iPad with Brightspace on it. AI is simply the next wave. The difference now is that the stakes are higher, and the pace is faster.

— Josiah Hoang