New York’s push to limit technology in schools could move beyond smartphones and into the laptops, tablets and other devices students use for everyday instruction, as new national research finds a majority of public school teachers believe children are spending too much classroom time on screens.
A Gallup survey released this week found 96% of U.S. K-12 public school teachers said their students use learning devices in class, including laptops, Chromebooks, tablets, iPads and e-readers. But 61% said students should spend less time using those devices, while just 6% said they should spend more time on them.
The findings arrive as New York lawmakers consider legislation aimed specifically at school-issued technology — an area left largely untouched by the state’s existing bell-to-bell restriction on student smartphones and other personal internet-connected devices.
Under New York’s current phone-free schools law, students generally cannot use personal internet-enabled devices anywhere on school grounds during the school day. But the law specifically excludes devices supplied by a school district, charter school or BOCES when they are being used for an educational purpose.
That distinction has become the focus of a new proposal known as the Fostering Optimal Classroom Use of Screens, or FOCUS, Act.
The Senate version of the FOCUS Act, introduced by state Sen. Andrew Gounardes, would establish grade-based restrictions on school-issued devices. Students in prekindergarten through fifth grade would generally receive screen-free instruction, while students in grades six through eight would primarily access devices through shared computer carts or labs. High school students could use one-to-one devices with permission from a parent or caregiver.
The legislation would also create what sponsors call a “right to analog learning,” requiring schools to prioritize assignments that can reasonably be completed without a screen and allowing students or parents to request nondigital alternatives when technology is not essential to the lesson.
Other provisions would restrict social media, gaming and direct-messaging applications, cameras and certain artificial intelligence tools on school-issued devices. The proposal would also establish requirements for education technology companies seeking to make products available to New York schools.
The Senate bill remains in the Rules Committee. A companion Assembly bill introduced Sept. 2 was referred to the Assembly Education Committee. Neither measure has become law.
Teachers see benefits, but also drawbacks
The Gallup findings show teachers are not uniformly opposed to classroom technology.
Fifty-nine percent agreed or strongly agreed that the digital tools and applications they use help students learn more effectively. But only 10% strongly agreed with that statement, while another 40% were either neutral or disagreed.
Asked to weigh the overall effect of learning devices, 52% of teachers said they produce roughly equal amounts of harm and good. Twenty-nine percent said devices do more harm than good, compared with 18% who said they do more good than harm.
High school teachers were somewhat more skeptical. Thirty-four percent said devices do more harm than good, compared with 27% of elementary school teachers and 28% of middle school teachers.
The divide also showed up when teachers were asked whether students should spend less time on devices. Fifty-five percent of elementary teachers favored less use, compared with 67% of middle school teachers and 65% of high school teachers.
The findings come from the Walton Family Foundation and Gallup’s Teaching for Tomorrow study, conducted May 6-29 in partnership with the Joan Ganz Cooney Center. Researchers surveyed 2,101 U.S. public school teachers drawn from a nationally representative probability-based panel.
New York already drawing a line between phones and learning technology
New York began requiring schools statewide to impose bell-to-bell restrictions on smartphones and other personal internet-enabled devices in September 2025. The restrictions cover both instructional and noninstructional parts of the school day, including lunch, recess, study halls and time between classes.
At the same time, the state continues to require public school districts to develop instructional technology plans. The State Education Department’s 2026-29 planning requirements call for districts to maintain comprehensive plans addressing how technology supports teaching and learning.
That leaves New York schools navigating two overlapping questions: how to reduce digital distraction while determining how much technology actually improves instruction.
The new Gallup findings suggest teachers themselves are wrestling with the same divide. Nearly all work in classrooms where screens are now commonplace, and most see at least some educational value in them. But a clear majority also say students should be spending less time on those devices.
Whether New York extends its restrictions from students’ personal phones to the devices schools provide them will depend on what lawmakers do with the FOCUS Act.
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