SB1920
SCH CD-ASL IMPLEMENTATION
TL;DR
Illinois SB1920, sponsored by Senator Doris Turner and now enacted as Public Act 104-0399, directs the State Board of Education to publish AI guidance for K-12 schools by July 1, 2026, covering topics like bias, privacy, and classroom use. It also updates internet safety curriculum to address AI-generated deepfakes (including sexually explicit ones) and requires ISBE to publish how it evaluates educator licensing tests for bias.
How This Might Impact Your Business
EdTech vendors selling AI tools to Illinois K-12 schools should expect districts to evaluate products against forthcoming ISBE guidance covering bias, transparency, student data privacy, and risk management, with the guidance due July 1, 2026.
Student data privacy compliance becomes central to sales conversations: vendors will need to demonstrate alignment with FERPA, COPPA, CIPA, the Illinois School Student Records Act, and the Student Online Personal Protection Act.
No direct penalties or licensing requirements are imposed on private companies; the bill regulates the State Board and school districts, not vendors, so impact flows through procurement standards rather than fines.
Companies building generative AI image or video products face reputational and indirect exposure: Illinois schools will now teach students to recognize and report AI-generated deepfakes and non-consensual explicit imagery as a form of cyberbullying.
Educator testing and credentialing vendors doing business with ISBE must prepare for public disclosure by July 1, 2026 of the process used to evaluate content validity, bias, and passing scores on content area tests.
American Sign Language curriculum providers and accessibility-focused edtech firms have a new opening, as ISBE will encourage districts to collect ASL teaching resources for K-8 by July 1, 2026.
No company size threshold or revenue trigger applies; the compliance burden sits with public entities, but any vendor selling into Illinois schools should expect new due diligence questions.
What Should You Do
If you sell AI-enabled products to Illinois school districts, assign a product or policy lead to monitor ISBE's guidance development and be ready to map your product to the nine required topic areas (bias, privacy, transparency, risk assessment, accessibility, special populations) before July 2026.
Prepare a plain-language data privacy fact sheet for school buyers documenting compliance with FERPA, COPPA, CIPA, ISSRA, and SOPPA, since districts will need this to satisfy the new guidance.
For companies building generative image, video, or voice tools, review your trust and safety controls for non-consensual intimate imagery and youth-targeted deepfakes; Illinois classrooms will now flag these as reportable harms.
Ask your government affairs or business development team to request a seat on the statewide AI advisory council the State Superintendent is authorized to convene, especially if you have K-12 AI expertise.
ASL curriculum, interpretation, and accessibility vendors should contact Illinois district curriculum directors now to position offerings before the July 2026 resource collection push.
Who It Affects
Sponsors
Status Timeline
enacted
Public Act . . . . . . . . . 104-0399
August 15, 2025