{"id":162060,"date":"2026-03-13T02:04:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T02:04:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/162060\/"},"modified":"2026-03-13T02:04:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T02:04:11","slug":"proposal-for-nyc-ai-focused-public-high-school-sparks-pushback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/162060\/","title":{"rendered":"Proposal for NYC AI-focused public high school sparks pushback"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sign up for Chalkbeat New York\u2019s free daily newsletter<\/a> to get essential news about NYC\u2019s public schools delivered to your inbox.<\/p>\n

New York City students with a passion for STEM \u2014 and an interest in artificial intelligence \u2014 may soon have a high school dedicated to training \u201cthe next generation of technology professionals.\u201d <\/p>\n

But families in Manhattan\u2019s District 2 are pushing back against the proposal<\/a> for Next Generation Technology High School<\/a>, a new screened admissions high school that would take the place of the tiny, girls-only Urban Assembly School of Business for Young Women. Next Generation would be the first city public school to focus its curriculum on AI and computer science.<\/p>\n

As details of the two proposals emerged over the last month, so have dual tensions: What should fill the space left by Young Women in Business, and how private technology companies and their artificial intelligence products could shape the curriculum at Next Generation. <\/p>\n

Much of the opposition to Next Generation has come from families at a middle school also in the Broadway building, Lower Manhattan Community School. Also known as LMC, parents at the school have called on the department for years to expand enrollment from grades 6-8 up to grade 12. <\/p>\n

The Panel for Educational Policy, the board that votes on new schools and closures, is expected to consider the proposals for Next Generation and Business for Young Women at its April 29 meeting. <\/p>\n

The Education Department released both proposals on March 6, the day after the city\u2019s eighth graders received their high school acceptance offers. If approved, Next Generation would welcome its first class of ninth graders in the fall. (The plan to close Business for Young Women in June is not contingent on Next Generation\u2019s approval.) <\/p>\n

Despite not having the green light yet, Next Generation has already held three virtual open houses. Its online interest form <\/a>states the school is \u201cset to open\u201d in fall 2026, noting that applications would open March 19.<\/p>\n

Parents ask: \u201cWhy this school and why here?\u201d<\/p>\n

Manhattan High Schools Superintendent Gary Beidleman introduced the idea for Next Generation Technology High School at a Feb. 25 meeting of the District 2 Community Education Council<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Panel for Educational Policy members and families of the three co-located schools at 26 Broadway \u2014 in addition to LMC and Business for Young Women, Richard R. Green High School of Teaching shares the building \u2014 said that meeting was the first time the district school community had been notified of the proposed STEM- and technology-focused screened high school.<\/p>\n

At the Feb. 25 announcement, Beidleman said Next Generation grew out of his experience as a summer 2024 Google Education Innovation Fellow<\/a>, and that Google and OpenAI are part of the planning team for the school. One of the school\u2019s goals, he said, is to \u201cexpand pathways connected to high-growth technology careers\u201d and provide advanced STEM and technology programming for NYC students. Next Generation also plans to offer a summer internship program with Carnegie Mellon University.<\/p>\n

Caleb Haraguchi-Combs, founding principal and project director of Next Generation High School, said in an information session that the school would utilize Google\u2019s new, AI-powered Skills Platform<\/a>. How much of this AI-powered, AI-focused Google coursework would comprise the curriculum is still in flux, according to the proposal\u2019s educational impact statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The school\u2019s academic description includes similar or identical language as found on the Google Skills website: Next Generation\u2019s \u201cspecial access to technology industry mentors,\u201d \u201ctechnology certifications,\u201d and \u201ccurriculum that adapts to the dynamic changes in the technology field\u201d are offerings advertised on the homepage of the Google Skills site. <\/p>\n

We’re on a need-to-know basis.<\/p>\n

Every weekday morning, Chalkbeat New York is bringing thousands of subscribers the news on public schools and education policy that they need to start their day. Sign up for our free newsletter to join them.<\/p>\n

Officials and families question new school proposal process <\/p>\n

The community and Panel for Educational Policy members have asked questions about the fast proposal process, speaking to uncertainty around admissions for the coming school year. <\/p>\n

Parents said<\/a> in a letter to the Panel for Educational Policy that the proposal seemingly came out of nowhere, and families were not provided adequate engagement opportunities before its release. Panel Chair Greg Faulkner said he has received hundreds of similar letters from parents since the community learned of the incoming proposal in late February.<\/p>\n

High school offers were released March 5, ahead of the panel\u2019s vote and months before the proposed school would open. It remains unclear how the Education Department would handle screening requirements \u2014 such as interviews or assessments \u2014 after the main admissions cycle has concluded. The Office of District Planning did not respond to questions about how enrollment would work for this fall.<\/p>\n

A petition in support<\/a> of the school, created by the Next Generation\u2019s founding principal and program director on March 8, had under 100 signatures at the time of publishing. <\/p>\n

A public hearing is scheduled for April 14, two weeks before the panel\u2019s vote. <\/p>\n

\u201cI would love more transparency around why the department chooses certain schools to go in certain places,\u201d said Sarah Calderon, a parent at Lower Manhattan Community School. \u201cWhen we asked the superintendent, \u2018Why this school and why here?\u2019 he said he had no data on district demand.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beidelman told parents at the Feb. 25 District 2 meeting that expanding Lower Manhattan Community \u201cwas not an idea that was on the table.\u201d <\/p>\n

The Education Department receives many proposals each year, including some from outside New York City, said Sean Rux of the Office of New School Development.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was the proposal that spoke to us,\u201d Rux said.<\/p>\n

Families push to expand Lower Manhattan Community School<\/p>\n

The plan to close the underenrolled Business for Young Women school has been percolating for a few years \u2014 with just 91 students this year, it\u2019s the smallest district high school in the city, said Education Department officials. <\/p>\n

Families at Lower Manhattan Community School say they have pushed for years to expand into a 6\u201312 model, and would like to move into the space used by Business for Young Women, if closed.<\/p>\n

\u201cA proposal to expand LMC could potentially open up 6th grade admissions to applicants citywide, but we have not been given the opportunity to even submit a proposal,\u201d said Anne Hager, a parent of a sixth grader at Lower Manhattan School.<\/p>\n

At a PTA meeting with Education Department staff on Wednesday, LMC\u2019s Student Leadership Team presented its case to expand the school instead of opening Next Generation. <\/p>\n

A new 6-12 would eliminate the need for LMC students to go through a second, onerous application process, something that students with disabilities would especially benefit from, they said. The presentation also cited Department of Education data from 2024 that showed 6-12 schools have nearly three times higher demand than their 6-8 middle school counterparts.<\/p>\n

District 2 has a higher proportion of screened and specialized high schools<\/a> compared with citywide averages. <\/p>\n

The department\u2019s proposal focuses largely on space at the Broadway campus, estimating that Next Generation would serve roughly 450 students by its fourth year. All three schools can comfortably co-locate, according to the proposal, though its capacity calculations do not allot for significant expansion for either Richard R. Green High School or LMC.<\/p>\n

Debate over AI timing and oversight<\/p>\n

Next Generation\u2019s proposal arrives amid broader debate <\/a>over artificial intelligence in schools.<\/p>\n

The school initially marketed itself in information sessions and on social media as an \u201cAI school,\u201d though DOE officials later clarified that students would learn about artificial intelligence rather than be taught by it. <\/p>\n

\u201cStudents need to be creators, not consumers, of technology,\u201d Beidleman said at the Feb. 25 meeting. \u201cLessons learned from the past show us that new tech in place creates an opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some parents have argued that broad use of an AI platform in public schools should not be allowed before comprehensive guidelines have been released by the city. <\/p>\n

Greg Faulkner, who chairs the Panel for Educational Policy, said he first learned of the proposal after receiving Next Generation\u2019s interest form<\/a> last month. Since then, the panel has received hundreds of letters from parents opposing the plan and raising concerns about the lack of community engagement so far.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have two major hesitations with this: We don\u2019t know what kind of AI involvement there will be. The development team has not provided a playbook for how that will look,\u201d Faulkner said. \u201cAnd in reading the response letters from District 2 parents, I see that proper engagement and process was not done.\u201d<\/p>\n

At a District 2 town hall on March 5, Chancellor Kamar Samuels said the Education Department expects to release AI guidance in the coming weeks and will provide a 45-day window for community feedback once it\u2019s published.<\/p>\n

Five Community Education Councils have passed resolutions calling for a two-year moratorium on artificial intelligence use in schools. But calls for broad AI guidelines implemented at the city level are nothing new; a proposed expansion<\/a> of an AI-powered reading program was halted <\/a>in 2024 after former Comptroller Brad Lander called for a citywide playbook. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think the question of teacher capacity and teacher shortages, the research on kids and AI, is still nascent, and the DOE\u2019s lack of its own AI policy leads me to question the timing of any AI school,\u201d said Calderon, the parent at Lower Manhattan Community.<\/p>\n

Lizzie Walsh is a Data Fellow at Chalkbeat New York. She reports on New York City education and produces data-driven stories across Chalkbeat\u2019s national network. Contact her at ewalsh@chalkbeat.org.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sign up for Chalkbeat New York\u2019s free daily newsletter to get essential news about NYC\u2019s public schools delivered…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":162061,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[3250,66,66825,66824,22553,66823,9,24,55,54,56,66826,8413],"class_list":["post-162060","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-chat-gpt","tag-chatbot","tag-classroom","tag-getty-creative","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-headlines","tag-new-york-city-news","tag-ny","tag-school-work","tag-student"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162060","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=162060"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162060\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/162061"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=162060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=162060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=162060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}