U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, has introduced the Learning Innovation and Family Empowerment (LIFE) with AI Act. The proposed legislation aims to create a framework that centers on parents to protect student data privacy, increase transparency, and promote responsible use of artificial intelligence in K-12 education.
Senator Cassidy has recently focused on equipping families with resources to manage AI in educational settings. Earlier this month, he led a hearing about the impact of AI. In September, he introduced the RAISE Act to support states in developing their own AI curricula.
“AI holds enormous potential to meet childrens’ unique learning needs,” said Dr. Cassidy. “As AI increasingly gets intertwined with students’ education, the LIFE Act empowers parents to ensure their children are protected from potential harm.”
The bill has received support from Parents Defending Education Action. Alfonso Aguilar, Senior Director of Governmental Affairs at PDE Action, stated: "We must ensure that as Artificial Intelligence becomes increasingly integrated into schools nationwide, students’ privacy remains protected. That’s precisely what Chairman Cassidy’s LIFE Act accomplishes—and why Parents Defending Education Action fully supports it. The bill enhances student data protections and reinforces parental rights under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), requiring schools to clearly inform parents about their data-sharing policies and making it easy for families to opt out of having their children’s information released. It also broadens the range of data and information that parents can review and decide not make public.”
The full text of the bill is available online.
