What happened
WRNJ Radio reports that Rep. Josh Gottheimer and Rep. Jay Obernolte introduced the bipartisan AI LABS Act, which would support AI labs and teacher training in K–12 schools. Gottheimer also backed cellphone restrictions, AI literacy in New Jersey curricula, and improved broadband access.
WRNJ Radio reports that Gottheimer announced the AI LABS Act on September 4 at George Washington Middle School in Ridgewood, New Jersey. The bill is co-led by Rep. Jay Obernolte, a Republican from California. According to the report, it would direct the U.S. Department of Education to create a federal grant program, or use existing grant programs, to help K–12 schools establish dedicated AI labs and train teachers to understand and use AI.
The proposed labs would provide hands-on instruction about AI, modeled by Gottheimer on earlier computer and typing labs. The measure would also direct the Education Department to study how the resources are distributed and used and recommend future investments. WRNJ does not provide bill text, a funding amount, eligibility rules, implementation dates, or evidence that Congress has approved the proposal.
The report says Gottheimer is separately urging New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill and Education Commissioner Lily Laux to continue the state’s Phone-Free Schools Grant Program. He also supports the bipartisan UNPLUGGED Act, which would help schools restrict personal electronic devices and buy secure storage boxes or pouches, with exceptions for some medical, disability, and English-learner needs.
Gottheimer said he is calling on New Jersey to add AI literacy, ethics, and practical skills to K–12 curricula while limiting screen time. He also said he would send a letter to the Federal Communications Commission and National Telecommunications and Information Administration seeking priority for broadband deployment in rural and underserved school districts. WRNJ is the source for these reported actions; they were not independently confirmed here.
Source details: wrnjradio.com ↗
Why it matters
The proposal would place AI literacy, critical evaluation, and teacher preparation inside a broader public-school policy agenda. If enacted and funded, it could affect how schools teach students to use AI and judge its limits, while also raising practical questions about equity, oversight, screen time, and access for poorly connected districts.
The proposal treats AI education as a capability and governance issue rather than only a technology-purchasing issue. Students would be taught how to use AI, question its output, and recognize when it should not be trusted. That framing could be useful as schools respond to both pressure for AI preparedness and concerns about overuse, academic integrity, privacy, and unequal access.
Teacher training is central to whether AI literacy becomes meaningful classroom practice. Without clear curriculum standards, staff time, evaluation methods, and safeguards for student data, creating a named lab may not by itself produce reliable instruction. The article does not establish how the proposed program would address those questions.
The broadband component matters because hands-on AI education can be uneven when schools lack reliable connectivity or adequate devices. However, the source describes an advocacy letter, not a committed federal deployment program. The scale, recipients, costs, and likely timeline remain unknown.
What to watch next
The key next steps are whether Congress advances the AI LABS Act, how any grant program would be funded and structured, and whether New Jersey officials maintain cellphone and AI-literacy initiatives. The FCC and NTIA response to Gottheimer’s broadband request is also unknown.
Watch for the AI LABS Act’s legislative text, sponsors, committee action, funding authorization, and grant eligibility. Until those details are public, schools cannot assume that federal money or an application pathway exists.
Any eventual program should be assessed for teacher-training quality, student data protections, accessibility, device requirements, and whether rural and underserved schools receive resources proportionate to their needs. The source provides no independent evaluation of the proposal’s likely educational effects.
The status of New Jersey’s Phone-Free Schools Grant Program and the UNPLUGGED Act will clarify how device restrictions are intended to coexist with AI instruction. The FCC and NTIA have not, in the supplied source, confirmed that they will prioritize the requested broadband deployment.