The pros and cons of AI may dominate K12 conversations, but cybersecurity remains tech leaders’ top priority.
However, a majority of tech leaders warn that they don’t have enough staff or funding to sufficiently protect their districts, according to the Consortium for School Networking’s latest “” report.
Only 7% of leaders say they haven’t invested in new defensesthis year, even as cyberattacks increase in complexity and scale. Among those who have, their budgets prioritize:
- Monitoring, detection and response systems (72%)
- Endpoint protection (66%)
- Identity protection and authentication (58%)
- Advanced/next-generation firewall (55%)
Just last week, Instructure, the company behind Canvas LMS, paid a ransom following a massive cyberattack that compromised student data at nearly 9,000 schools during finals season. ShinyHunters, the extortion group that claimed responsibility for the attack, stole 3.65 terabytes of data belonging to 275 million individuals.
While there is never complete certainty when dealing with cyber criminals, we believe it was important to take every step within our control to give customers additional peace of mind, to the extent possible, Instructure said .
AI adoption is growing
Districts are making progress in establishing AI policies, according to the report. Nearly 80% of districts now have guidelines, up from 57% in 2025. Specifically, policies regarding academic integrity increased 14%, and policies related to data privacy and personal identifiable information nearly doubled.
“In just one year, education technology leaders have become strikingly more optimistic about AI’s potential, nearly doubling their confidence in areas like productivity and personalized learning,” the report reads.
Below is a breakdown of leaders’ positive perceptions of AI’s potential in education:
- Productivity: 74% agree
- Personalized education: 67% agree
- Student tutoring: 46% agree
- Preparing students for the workforce: 43% agree
- Supporting teacher shortage issue: 13% agree
Leaders welcome guidance, but not mandates, from state education agencies. They value local decision-making most.
Leaders are also helping teachers master instructional Gen AI tools (70%) and showing administrators how to use productivity apps (51%).
Read the full report .
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