In our last newsletter, we unpacked Brookings' 200-page warning on AI in K-12. Their conclusion was clear: AI can either diminish or enrich learning, depending on implementation.
But that raises a question we keep hearing from district leaders: "If the workforce demands AI skills, and we're supposed to protect students from AI's risks, how do we do both?"
Here's the good news: you don't have to choose. An intentional, bounded approach is exactly what prepares students for an AI-driven workforce. Protecting students and preparing them aren't competing goals. They're the same goal.
Lastly, some folks have reached out to us asking how to subscribe themselves or their colleagues to this newsletter. Click here to do so. We send a newsletter every two weeks about the latest happenings with K-12 and AI.
IN THIS ISSUE:
The "Profile of an AI-Ready Graduate": Six Roles Every Student Should Master. None of them are "Prompt Engineer."
Workforce Data: Why AI Skills are Becoming Non-negotiable and What Employers Actually Want
60% of Districts Now Offer Tech/AI Pathways, but Most are Just Getting Started
THE AI SKILLS IMPERATIVE
66%
Business leaders who say they wouldn't hire someone without AI skills (Microsoft)
7x
Growth in demand for AI fluency in just two years (McKinsey)
56%
Wage premium for workers with AI skills compared to similar roles without them (PwC)
THE READINESS GAP
59%
Workers who will need reskilling by 2030 (World Economic Forum)
IN SCHOOLS
60%
Percentage of districts now offering a career pathway in technology, cybersecurity, or AI (EdWeek)
28%
Percentage of educators who say their district started tech/AI/cybersecurity career programs in the past five years, the most popular category for new CTE programs (EdWeek)
6
Core roles in ISTE+ASCD's "Profile of an AI-Ready Graduate": Learner, Researcher, Synthesizer, Problem Solver, Connector, Storyteller (ASCD)
The Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) released a "Profile of an AI-Ready Graduate" that deserves attention. It's not a list of tools to learn. It's a framework for thinking.
The profile identifies six core roles students should be comfortable taking on with AI to maximize their human potential:
Learner: Uses AI to set learning goals, create plans for new skills, identify strategies to get unstuck, and seek targeted feedback.
Researcher: Uses AI to independently verify information, identify areas of widespread agreement, and evaluate source reliability.
Synthesizer: Uses AI to pull together information from multiple sources and identify patterns.
Problem Solver: Uses AI as a brainstorming partner to generate new ideas and explore a wide range of possibilities.
Connector: Uses AI to build relationships and communicate effectively.
Storyteller: Uses AI to craft compelling narratives and express ideas clearly.
Notice what's not on this list: "prompt engineer" or "ChatGPT power user." The profile is about human thinking first. As ASCD CEO Richard Culatta put it, it's about "the human thinking that has to happen before you even get to what tool or what prompt to use” (ASCD).
OUR TWO CENTS
This framework is not about AI skills. It's about human skills that AI can enhance. Connector. Synthesizer. Problem Solver. These aren't job titles at OpenAI. They're the exact cognitive capacities Brookings warned are at risk when students use AI without guardrails. When students skip the struggle, they never build the thinking muscles these roles require.
If you teach AI tools without teaching the underlying thinking skills, you produce graduates who can type prompts but can't evaluate outputs. They're tool operators, not thinkers. The employers paying 56% wage premiums are not paying for prompt engineering. They're paying for people who can do what the machines can't: judge, evaluate, synthesize, and decide. Human thinking first, AI second. It's Brookings' "carefully titrated AI use" in practice, and it's the best approach for producing graduates employers actually want.
Share the ASCD profile with your leadership team. It's a useful framework for conversations about what "AI-ready" means in your district, and it will change the conversation from “which tools” to “which capabilities.”
Ask the question differently. Instead of "Are students using AI?" ask "Are students using AI to think deeper, create better, and solve problems more efficiently than they could alone?"
The data from employers is unambiguous. AI literacy isn't a nice-to-have anymore.
McKinsey reports that demand for AI fluency has jumped nearly sevenfold. It's now a job requirement in occupations employing about 7 million workers, and it’s the fastest-growing skill category in U.S. job postings (McKinsey).
PwC's 2025 Global AI Jobs Barometer shows that since generative AI's proliferation in 2022, productivity growth in AI-exposed industries jumped from 7% to 27%. Industries best positioned to use AI are now seeing 3x higher revenue growth than those least exposed (PwC).
The World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report 2025 projects that 170 million new jobs will be created by 2030 and 92 million displaced, a net increase of 78 million jobs. But 59% of workers will need reskilling, and 120 million are at medium-term risk of redundancy (WEF).
But here's the nuance that matters: employers aren't just asking for people who can use AI tools. They're asking for people who can think about when and how to use them and when not to.
OUR TWO CENTS
The "AI skills gap" everyone's panicking about is actually a human skills gap. As AI handles more routine cognitive tasks, the premium on non-routine thinking goes up. The graduates who will thrive aren't the ones who learned to use ChatGPT in 8th grade. They're the ones who built the foundation that lets them evaluate, judge, and decide with or without AI.
Even at ClassCloud, when we’re deciding on which applicants to hire, every position is AI-first. We’re looking for critical thinkers who know how to leverage AI to get work done faster and with fewer bodies. AI adoption will naturally increase productivity across most industries, leading to fewer positions for new graduates. In most cases, those positions will require in-depth AI literacy.
The winning strategy isn't less AI or more AI. It's intentional AI. It’s knowing when to teach with it and when to teach without it. The districts that figure this out will produce the graduates employers are actually looking for.
Have the conversation with your CTE team. Are local employers asking about AI skills? What specifically are they looking for? The answer is probably more nuanced than "knows how to use ChatGPT."
Frame AI literacy as a workforce AND safety skill. The skills that make someone employable are the same skills that protect them from manipulation.
An EdWeek Research Center survey of 472 educators this fall found that 60% of districts now offer a career pathway in technology, cybersecurity, or AI. Over the past five years, digital technology/IT/AI/cybersecurity was the most popular category for new CTE program launches (28% of respondents).
But "offering a pathway" and "comprehensively integrating AI" are different things. Unsurprisingly, most districts are still in early stages.
The survey found that interest in CTE has surged. More than 7 in 10 educators say interest has risen over the past five years. Students and parents are questioning the ROI of traditional four-year degrees. Career-connected learning is having a moment (EdWeek).
OUR TWO CENTS
The districts that will truly prepare students for AI-era careers are doing something different. They're integrating AI across pathways—not just in the computer science track, but in healthcare, business, law, and public service.
And they're building the guardrails Brookings recommends. Remember their warning about the "Matthew Effect," where well-resourced schools get high-quality AI with teacher guidance while under-resourced schools get free tools that hallucinate more? The same dynamic applies to career readiness. Districts with intentional AI integration will produce graduates ready for the workforce. Districts relying on unguided consumer tools will produce graduates who can use AI but can't think with it.
The question isn't just whether your district offers a tech/AI pathway. It’s whether you're teaching the thinking skills that will matter in five years, or the tool skills that will be outdated in two.
Benchmark yourself. Where does your district fall in that 60%? If you offer tech/AI pathways, how deeply is AI integrated? If you don't, what's the plan?
Look beyond tech tracks. Every career pathway, from health to business to education to public service, intersects with AI now. The question is whether your curriculum reflects that.
"Profile of an AI-Ready Graduate" ASCD (2025)
The framework that's shaping how forward-thinking districts define AI readiness. Worth sharing with your leadership team and curriculum directors.
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This newsletter works best when it’s a conversation, not a broadcast. If you want to talk through how any of this applies to your district specifically, or if you have feedback on what would make this more helpful, just hit reply. We read and respond to everything.
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Location: Nashville, TN
Dates: February 12–14, 2026
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Thanks for reading,
Russ Davis, Founder & CEO, ClassCloud ([email protected])
Sarah Gardner, VP of Partnerships, ClassCloud ([email protected])
ClassCloud is an AI company, so naturally, we use AI to help polish our content.
