Bringing ChatGPT for Teachers to more U.S. school districts
OpenAI is expanding its free ChatGPT for Teachers program to 55 new school districts, covering over 100,000 educators, while introducing a 16-state data privacy agreement to simplify responsible AI adoption in K–12 education.
OpenAI announced partnerships with 55 additional U.S. school districts, expanding free access to its ChatGPT for Teachers tool to more than 100,000 educators and staff. This brings the total number of participating K–12 organizations to over 100 across 30 states, with the new districts including one-fifth of America’s 20 largest public school systems. The tool remains available at no cost to verified U.S. K–12 educators through June 2028, with training and support included.
The expansion includes a first-of-its-kind data privacy agreement covering 16 states, developed with the Student Data Privacy Consortium. This framework provides districts with a standardized way to evaluate ChatGPT for Teachers against their student data privacy requirements, reducing the need for separate negotiations. The agreement currently covers 16 states, including Illinois, Massachusetts, and Texas, with California included under a separate arrangement.
ChatGPT for Teachers is designed with education-grade privacy and security controls, including default protections to prevent data used in school workspaces from training OpenAI’s models. District leaders can manage access through role-based controls to align with FERPA requirements. The tool supports tasks such as lesson planning, report card drafting, and administrative work, with educators sending over 1.9 million messages related to time-saving tasks in the first half of 2024.
OpenAI is also providing hands-on training through initiatives like OpenAI Academy and the National Academy for AI Instruction, in partnership with the American Federation of Teachers. Summer sessions have already engaged over 1,600 teachers, with 93% reporting they gained usable skills and 96% planning to apply what they learned within 30 days. Feedback from districts highlights practical classroom applications, from adapting lessons to analyzing student materials.