People are pushing back on tech in schools.
You see the headlines, but the reality is more nuanced. Here's what's going on, FYI.
Subject
Report
Pushback report
Grading scale
0 to 100, last 90 days, recent weeks count most
Issued
Oct 22, 2026
AreaUnited States, all 50 states and DC
Reporting period
StatusEarly research, still under review. Known limits
Section A. Temperature by state
Red pencil gets denser and darker with heatClick a state to circle it. Colorado, our pilot, opens down to its school districts. Scores still partly reflect how deeply we've researched each state, so read low scores as unknown for now.
| No. | State | Mark | Band |
|---|
| District | St. | Mark |
|---|
Section C. Totals
Signals, last 90 days
Districts with signals
States with signals
National signals, not mapped
Section D. How the temperature is calculated
1
Score each signal
How hard it pushes back (1.0 strong, 0.7 clear, 0.35 mixed, 0 neutral or supportive) times how much it weighs: a post 1, a news story 2, organized action 4, a formal proposal 6, a binding vote or contract change 8.
2
Count each story once
Signals about the same event are grouped. The strongest counts in full, and extra coverage adds 25% each, capped at double. Only a district's 5 strongest events count (a state's 6).
3
Adjust for context
Recent signals count more (60-day half-life). Broad coalitions and big petitions add up to 50%. Larger districts and states are damped for their bigger megaphone.
4
Convert to 0 to 100
A saturating curve: one binding vote against school tech lands a district around 55. A state score pools every signal in the state, statewide and local.
5
Show what we don't know
Checked districts with no pushback score 0. Districts we haven't checked yet are left blank and get no score. Every score carries a confidence level.
Known limits
Scores reflect research effort as well as pushback. Colorado was our pilot and was swept far more deeply, so its 84 partly reflects that. Low scores in thinly covered states mostly mean we haven't found much yet.
Every record was classified with AI and hasn't had a human review yet. Some dates are publication dates where the meeting date wasn't known.
We don't think tech is good or bad. We think there's good tech and bad tech.
The technology offers incredible promise in education and can also do incredible harms by crowding out human interaction.
Our goal is neither to promote technology or to advocate against it, but to make this moment legible to parents, educators, technologists, and the general public.