House Panel Advances Title IX and AI Education Bills

The House Education and Workforce Committee has advanced H.R. 8747, the K-12 AI Literacy and Readiness Act of 2026—a title so grand it could only be matched by its underwhelming content. The bill would help schools use federal funds for AI education, which essentially means throwing money at the latest tech fad while teachers still buy chalk out of their own pockets. Because obviously, the way to fix America's struggling schools is to add 'AI Literacy' to the list of things they're failing at.

The bill's vagueness is its feature, not its bug: it doesn't specify what 'AI literacy' means, giving school districts maximum flexibility to waste funds on vendor lock-in. Expect every edtech salesperson to be knocking on principal doors with 'AI-ready' programs that are just rehashed coding camps. Meanwhile, the same committee has been gridlocked on basic funding formulas, but sure, let's prioritize preparing students for a job market that might not exist in five years.

This is performative lawmaking at its finest—a bill that lets legislators claim they're tackling the future without actually doing anything meaningful. The full House will likely pass it with bipartisan applause, because who can oppose educating children about AI? The answer: no one, which is exactly why this bill will be celebrated as a triumph while the real crisis in education deepens. Here's to another legislative gesture that makes everyone feel good and changes nothing.