Editor’s note: This is the monthly contribution from Boardhawk columnist Dr. Aaron Massey. See his bio at the bottom of this post.
Another new school year is upon us. On top of the ongoing and deeply rooted inequities that already existed in public education in the U.S. (funding, structure, and historical racism) there are compounding stress-conditions (perceived teacher shortages, violence in and out of schools, local/state/national political flare-ups ).
From that vantage point, education sounds like it’s in a state of disarray.
But if you go talk to leaders of school districts, charter management organizations, and supporting nonprofits, many would say they are just now getting their footing to build on some early signs of success towards their respective missions and/or that they are excited about some new ventures already making an impact.
Maybe parents would say that things are mostly the same as when they were in school – less the complaints about Common Core Math. And students, a different reality altogether.
Whose right in their assertion?
Does it matter?
Our interpretations of shared experiences that have impacted – or currently impact – the state of education not only differ; they are weaponized to advance agendas outside of getting results for and with students.
While we might not come to a shared interpretation of events, we can agree that events have occurred. You might not have quarantined, but COVID still happened.
Here are a few things that are truly happening in education that are impacting its current state of affairs:
Artificial intelligence in education is, both, revolutionizing how we think about learning and causing insecurity among some educators.
In a six-year span, school districts went from counting WiFi hotspots and experimenting with online learning to the release of Chat GPT. This technological whiplash has produced a varied response.
Some schools have explored AI more intently by partnering with AI education organizations while others have not yet begun to draft a vision for its use. What’s undeniable, though, is that it has already had an impact on the current state of education.
There is a teacher right now that just copy and pasted this phrase into an AI search engine: “Create a slide deck for (insert standard) with a lesson objective of (insert lesson objective) to a class of (insert grade level) that has independent practice at the end.” While others are googling worksheets.
District-level “Early AI Adopters” are tailoring AI to the needs of students in a variety of ways (Dusseault, et. al, 2024).
Other districts are still working on language. The current state of education is impacted by an early schism in AI adoption and could lead to artificial intelligence inequity.
Gen Z is well into the education workforce and they have brought their expectations and language.
It’s creating change. Because Gen Z didn’t give a “F” about settling for our established, sub-par work/life balance and mental health standards in education, HR Departments and People Teams across districts are adjusting benefits packages.
At the same time they are searching for balance, a nationwide teacher shortage persists (Learning Policy Institute). This means putting more responsibility on fewer teachers. Here again, a compounding stress-condition (teacher shortage) on top of a deeply rooted issue in education (work/life balance).
What do we do when we need to talk through these sorts of frustrations? Use words. But those have changed too. Have you ever been called “Unc” but your siblings don’t have children and you’re only 30? You have to know it hits different.
In other words, language matters. We use words to help make sense of what’s happening in schools. To negotiate and interpret. To support and learn from each other. And not only does Gen Z have new words, but we also took away other words that made sense. Ie: Diversity, equity, and inclusion.
The current state of education is influenced by generational shifts in working conditions and language. That’s happening right now.
Students are chronically absent from school, never returned after COVID-19 related school closures, or are no longer in the public school system.
Post-quarantine, “heightened levels of chronic absenteeism continue to be one of district leaders’ top concerns” (Diliberti et. al, 2025). Citing, among others, boredom and disconnection (Wong, 2025), students are no longer sold on the value proposition of school.
Come to school, get an education and you might be able to find a job that pays a liveable wage. Some students chose to never come back to school at all. And as students continue to vote with their feet, schools and organizations are upping their post secondary supports.
This seems like the exact right thing to do until you realize that you have to come to school to receive that counseling. In other words, students are disengaging from the public school system while a brick-and-mortar strategy relies on coming to school (attendance) to receive services. The current state of education is impacted by student disengagement.
We may differ in our interpretations, but there are events, people, and movements happening now that deserve attention.
Which ones did I miss?
