On May 26, 2026, Maryland Governor Wes Moore signed the Artificial Intelligence Ready Schools Act, a comprehensive law that requires Maryland schools to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) literacy into computer science standards for students in kindergarten through 12th grade. Each local school system has 120 days to develop an AI policy aligned with guidelines established by the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) that, among other things, ensures the “safe, responsible, equitable, and ethical use of artificial intelligence,” with “students and teachers at the center of educational technology.” Moreover, by June 1, 2027, AI literacy must be included in “computer science standards for kindergarten through grade 12.” This legislation includes mandatory professional development for educators on the “effective use, privacy, security, academic integrity, and means of avoiding overdependence.”
As a parent, educator, and founder of an unconventional learning program, I recognize both the opportunity and the problem this legislation presents. AI is here to stay, and in the ever-expanding, ever-evolving digital age, our children need every opportunity to learn how to harness the power of technology responsibly and effectively. To be competitive locally, nationally, and globally, our students must learn to navigate and utilize AI responsibly and effectively, and this is what this legislation seeks to encourage. However, because it is presented as a mandate, it raises a fundamental question: Who should decide what students learn and how?
At eXtend Homeschool Tutorial, we don’t have an AI integration strategy. Instead, our instructors decide what, if any, technology is used, and the degree to which it is incorporated in their teaching. Some instructors use AI to develop lesson plans based on their curriculum, or for designing games and enhancing learning activities, while others focus on direct instruction and traditional problem-solving. Some classrooms utilize interactive platforms such as Kahoot and NearPod, while others use entirely different methods, such as self-created songs and visual aids.
Likewise, homeschooling programs such as The Hive Interactives do not have an AI integration strategy. According to the program founder and Education Entrepreneurship Lab contributor, Angel Sobrino, AI is in their DNA, and touches almost every aspect of instruction. From their AI Tools Club to having AI technology located in each classroom to assist with assessing and creating individualized instruction plans and subjects for each learner, AI integration makes it possible for The Hive instructors, called Hive Guides, to provide personalized instruction across a wide spectrum of students within the same classroom setting.
As radically different as eXtend’s and Hive’s structures are, what they do share and reflect is one of the primary core values of unconventional education: choice. And that choice is evident from both the perspective of the program founders and instructors, as well as the parents.
From the founders’ perspective, both programs are committed to equipping the students with strong fundamental academic skills, and both programs have made deliberate choices regarding the role of technology in instruction. Moreover, because the decision to include AI or other technology comes from within the program, as opposed to an outside mandate, there is an inherent flexibility with how, when, and to what degree technology is incorporated literally on any given day. This is the very model of educational freedom at work.
Angel reflected that while AI bots are actively recording data in each classroom, there are some classes, writing specifically, where the kids are putting pen to paper the old-fashioned way. As the director and as Hive Guide, Angel often makes decisions in the moment based on the needs at hand. At eXtend, an instructor may choose to use a math game developed with the assistance of AI on one day, and on another, that same class may be found using traditional compasses to sketch chords and bisect angles. Again, the freedom instructors have to make decisions and the flexibility to adapt in the moment are hallmarks of unconventional learning and emerging schooling models.
From the family’s perspective, this freedom in the educational marketplace translates directly into choice within their own homes. For example, if one student in a family thrives in a tech-heavy classroom, the family can (and most likely will) choose that type of program or class. If a sibling, on the other hand, has a learning style that thrives on low-tech, high-tactile instruction, that family may choose that type of program or class for their child. The family is not locked into one program that must be made to fit every child. Rather, they can select programs and classes that best meet each individual child in the family. This is the fruit of educational freedom in practice, and this is available because of freedom of choice, not because of a mandate.
Families leave traditional educational settings for many reasons, and yet a common thread in our learning community and many others across the country is that families want autonomy. Families want to customize their child’s education based on that individual child’s needs, learning style, and family values. Unconventional learning settings and innovative schools provide that freedom. A homeschool co-op can decide its technology policy and differentiate by educational philosophy. Microschools, hybrid schools, and homeschool tutorials can empower teachers to make instructional choices that respond to individual students.
Where Maryland’s AI Ready Schools Act falls short is that it is a one-size-fits-all mandate on the county level, and assumes that all students benefit from the same approach to AI integration. This top-down approach removes a family’s ability to choose from among different strategies and fundamentally restricts individual schools’ and instructors’ ability to structure programs around the unique needs of the communities and students they serve.
The solution to this tension is not more regulation from above, but instead freedom. Individual programs need freedom to differentiate; instructors need freedom to make day-to-day choices about how AI is incorporated into their classrooms; and parents need freedom to choose programs and methodologies that fit their children’s needs and their family’s values.
When this freedom exists, there is no need for mandates to ensure responsible innovation. Programs will innovate as a means to attract students. Teachers will responsibly integrate technology because they are accountable to the families they serve. Students will benefit as they participate in a program that is tailored to their needs.
This is what is modeled at eXtend, at The Hive Interactive, and countless other unconventional programs around the country. This is why families choose us. And this is precisely why educational freedom matters far more than any top-down mandate.
