OpenAI announced on August 26, 2026 that it is expanding ChatGPT for Teachers to 55 additional school systems across 20 states, reaching more than 100,000 additional educators and staff. According to the company's post, the tool was introduced in 2025 to nearly 150,000 teachers and staff. With the new cohort, OpenAI says it is now working with more than 100 K–12 organizations across 30 states, providing free access and training to over 300,000 educators and staff. The company states the new cohort includes 1 in 5 of America's 20 largest public school districts. OpenAI also announced a 16-state National Data Privacy Agreement through the Student Data Privacy Consortium framework, which it describes as a first for the industry, giving districts a recognized path to evaluate and adopt the tool without negotiating separate agreements. The signed General Offers cover Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia and Washington, with California covered separately. OpenAI states the tool remains free to verified U.S. K–12 educators through June 2028, is available to administrators, faculty and educators only, and that data in a Teachers workspace is not used to train models by default. Leah Belsky, VP of Education, is quoted in the announcement.
- 55 additional school systems across 20 states, reaching 100,000+ more educators and staff
- OpenAI now works with 100+ K–12 organizations across 30 states, over 300,000 educators total
- New 16-state National Data Privacy Agreement via the Student Data Privacy Consortium framework
- Tool remains free to verified U.S. K–12 educators through June 2028; data not used for training by default
What it means for you
If you work in a U.S. public school, ChatGPT for Teachers is a free, education-specific version of ChatGPT with privacy controls built for schools, and it's rolling out to more districts. The data privacy agreement matters because it means districts in 16 states can adopt it without negotiating their own legal terms first, which usually stalls this kind of thing for months. For everyone outside K–12 education, this is a niche rollout with no direct effect.
Try this
If you're a verified U.S. K–12 educator or administrator, check whether your district is in the 16-state privacy agreement and ask your IT or leadership team whether they've enabled ChatGPT for Teachers access.
Who should care
U.S. public school teachers, administrators, and district IT/procurement staff — especially in the 16 named states.
Skip this if
You're not connected to K–12 education, or your work has nothing to do with school districts.
Sources: OpenAI — read the original