SETDA State EdTech Trends Report

SETDA published its fourth annual State EdTech Trends Report, offering a look at the evolving priorities and challenges facing K-12 education technology leaders across the country. The report comes at a pivotal time. Pandemic-era relief funds have expired, budgets are tightening, and states are reshaping policy priorities while charting the future of digital learning. For the first time, AI surpassed cybersecurity as the top state edtech priority. Key findings of the report include:

• AI Rises to #1 Priority: AI ranked as both the leading state edtech priority and the top state initiative. States are moving quickly on guidance, professional learning, policy frameworks, and some are bringing AI experts directly into their agencies.
• Funding Gaps Widen: With Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds gone, states face steep challenges sustaining pandemic-era investments. Only 6 percent of respondents reported having durable funding plans in place for ongoing edtech work, down from 27 percent in 2024.
• Devices & Student Well-Being: States are debating classroom device use, ranging from outright bans to investments in digital citizenship and healthy technology strategies.
• Professional Learning Still a Struggle: Educator training remains a critical but unmet need—especially around the effective and safe use of AI in classrooms.
• Cybersecurity Remains Critical: Even as AI takes the spotlight, state leaders stress that cybersecurity requires sustained focus and infrastructure investment.