📣 The next generation of Permian Basin principals is coming soon. We're thrilled to welcome 33 aspiring principals from West Texas and New Mexico into the Holdsworth Aspiring Principal Program. Read the full announcement to see who is on the list! bit.ly/4nYcdVJ

The leaders shaping what AI looks like in K-12 aren’t waiting for perfect answers. They’re building the strategy, governance, and systems now. Cohorts 3 & 4 of ILO Group’s AI Strategy & Leadership Network are now enrolling. Move from fragmented AI activity to real system leadership. Future-ready starts here. forms.gle/B8KFdwS6pJyYLozZA

#AI will shape the school year ahead. The question is whether we will lead it with discipline. @ScottMuri and I wrote this piece because the next phase of AI in K–12 cannot be about chasing tools or launching disconnected pilots. It has to be about focus. What problem are we solving? What bottlenecks are slowing us down? How are we preparing adults to change practice for students? Who is helping us see what is working, what is risky, and what needs to stop? AI cannot sit on the side of the work. It has to be connected to vision, governance, implementation, and impact. Read our full @GovTechNews op-ed here: govtech.com/education/k-12/o…

A new @GirlScouts report should stop every education leader in their tracks. Girls are not just using #AI to answer homework questions. They are turning to it for connection, advice, emotional support, and everyday decision-making. Among girls who use voice-assisted devices, 65% see them as “friends.” More than half of girls ages 11–13 have asked AI for help when they felt sad, anxious, or lonely. At the same time, 56% of parents say they do not feel equipped to teach their children how to use AI safely. girlscouts.org/en/footer/pre… That parental readiness gap reflects the broader challenge we’re seeing across AI adoption: leaders at the top must personally lean into the process, through personal use, personal understanding, and personal upskilling to navigate the transformation effectively. We cannot treat AI as something young people will only encounter in a computer science class, a tutoring program, or a district-approved platform. It is already woven into how they seek information, process emotion, make choices, and understand the world. And yet, too many adults, and leaders, are still on the sidelines. This mirrors a broader American problem. As Drew Cukor recently argued in @FortuneMagazine, the U.S. is leading in AI creation from models to chips, but lagging in AI adoption. fortune.com/2026/05/11/drew-… His point, informed by leading AI implementation at the Pentagon through Project Maven, is relevant across industries and sectors: AI transformation does not happen when leaders bolt tools onto old workflows. It happens when leaders own the work, redesign systems, and measure impact. That is especially true in education. AI cannot be a side project. It cannot live only with the technology team. It cannot be reduced to a policy memo, a vendor contract, or a handful of pilots. This is a CEO-level, superintendent-level, cabinet-level leadership moment. At @WeAreILO, our work with states and districts starts from a simple belief: AI is not just a tool to manage. It is a new organizational competency to build. Leaders need a clear vision, strong governance, human oversight, family engagement, staff training, and the courage to redesign systems around what students actually need. The @GirlScouts report findings make the stakes plain. If young people are asking AI the questions they are afraid, unsure, or unable to ask adults, then education systems have to respond with more than caution. We need readiness. We need guidance. We need adults who are fluent enough to lead. The future is not waiting for our comfort level to catch up. Our children are already there. Now leaders have to lead.

The final leadership conversation of the convening is one of the most important. Dr. @ScottMuri is helping Cohort 2 reflect on why humility and discernment must guide responsible #AI implementation - and what leadership conditions are needed amid rapid technological change. #ILOImpact #K12Leadership

Leaders need to approach #AI as a leadership and organizational priority rather than a “tool” to purchase and apply. For the next school year, the strongest systems will not be the ones chasing the most products. They will be the ones making sharper decisions, building stronger governance, and staying focused on what actually improves outcomes. That’s the shift our Dr. @JuliaRafalBaer and Dr. @ScottMuri highlight in their latest @GovTechNews piece: → start with the problem, not the product → break the triple veto → turn adult learning into student impact → put teachers and students inside the oversight process → create capacity by stopping something else Read the full GovTech piece: govtech.com/education/k-12/o…

New from our Dr. @juliarafalbaer and Dr. @ScottMuri in @govtechnews: 5 #AI Moves Leaders Must Make for Next School Year. govtech.com/education/k-12/o…

Six months ago, a group of superintendents and state chiefs joined the first cohort of the #AI Strategy & Leadership Network. These are leaders running some of the largest and most complex systems in the country. Their time is the scarcest resource they have. So when one of them, a superintendent leading a Top 20 district, told us afterward: "It is difficult to give up large chunks of time. This was totally worth it" -- that meant something. Here is what Cohorts 1 and 2 leaders actually built: •A clear AI vision tied to student outcomes, not vendor pitches. •Governance guardrails that hold up when the pressure hits. •Multi-year AI roadmaps grounded in community trust. •Cross-functional alignment across legal, instruction, technology, and the board. They didn't leave with a binder. They left with a strategy their system can execute. And they built it alongside peers who are navigating the same complexity, in a room where the conversation is honest and the work is real. I am proud of what these cohorts accomplished.  And I am more convinced than ever that this kind of structured, peer-driven experience is what this moment in education requires. Cohorts 3 and 4 of the AI Strategy & Leadership Network are now enrolling for state and district leaders. If you are leading a system and feel the gap between AI activity and AI strategy, this is built for you.  #AIinEducation #K12 #edleadership #ILOImpact Learn more and apply for Cohorts 3 & 4 of the AI Strategy & Leadership Network: forms.gle/B8KFdwS6pJyYLozZA

It’s not always the changes you see first… but they’re the ones that matter most. Bond 2023 is focused on improving the spaces students and staff rely on every day. #ECISD #Bond2023 youtu.be/Rm-rl1K6c4o?si=ield…

#ILOImpact leading the conversation on #AI leadership in K-12. Via @govtechnews: Wary of adopting too many AI tools too quickly, some K-12 leaders are moving toward more structured governance models, forcing school systems to rethink how decisions are made, who is involved and how risk is managed. @juliarafalbaer @CharMeckSupt @AleesiaLJohnson @DEDeptofEd govtech.com/education/k-12/s…