OpenAI to train more than 1,600 U.S. K–12 educators in practical AI use

OpenAI on July 8, 2026 announced a series of in-person practical workshops called AI Skills Jam for educators in US schools in partnership with the Walton Family Foundation: the program will involve more than 1,600 teachers, administrators, and school district leaders.

How the Program Works

AI Skills Jam for K–12 Educators is a series of in-person workshops for staff at American K–12 schools, meaning from elementary through the end of high school. The initiative is conducted by the OpenAI Academy education platform together with the charitable organization Walton Family Foundation. The program's goal is not simply to introduce participants to generative AI, but to give them the opportunity to try out tools on typical work tasks.

During the sessions, educators will work together with OpenAI mentors. The focus includes lesson planning, creating and adapting educational materials, correspondence with parents and staff, and administrative work. The organizers promise a format in which participants can ask questions, discuss risks, and test tools on scenarios close to real school practice.

• OpenAI announced the program launch on July 8, 2026.
• More than 1,600 teachers, administrators, and school district leaders are expected to participate in the in-person sessions.
• Meetings will take place in eight US cities from July 8 to September 4, 2026.
• The venues include Jonesboro, Fairfax, Orlando, Chicago, San Bernardino, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, and Las Vegas.
• After the workshops, participants will receive access to the free OpenAI Academy online platform with materials and recommendations.

The first event is scheduled for Jonesboro, Georgia on July 8, 2026 in partnership with schools in Clayton County. Sessions will then be held in Virginia, Florida, Illinois, California, Arizona, Utah, and Nevada. The last of the confirmed meetings will take place on September 4, 2026 in Las Vegas.

What Teachers Will Get

Participants are expected to gain practical skills, not generic advice about the benefits of technology. OpenAI proposes addressing everyday processes that teachers typically spend a lot of time on: lesson planning, preparing assignment variations, formulating feedback, messages to parents, and internal school communication.

An important part of the program is the opportunity to discuss responsible AI use. In schools, such tools affect the quality of educational materials, age restrictions, student data privacy, and the risk that automatically generated text will turn out to be inaccurate. Therefore, a practical format with mentors could be more useful than a one-time chatbot demonstration: educators need to understand where a model's output should be double-checked and what tasks shouldn't be delegated to it at all.

"Access to AI is just a starting point; the real opportunity lies in the ability to thoughtfully use these tools and solve meaningful problems," said

OpenAI's Vice President of Education, Lea Belsky.

After the in-person meetings, educators will be able to continue learning through OpenAI Academy. This is a free online platform with resources and recommendations for AI use. The company emphasizes that it does not want to be limited to a one-day event and expects to develop relationships with schools, district leaders, and partners.

How Much Time Can AI Save?

According to a study by the Walton Family Foundation and Gallup, teachers who use AI tools at least once a week estimate an average time savings of 5.9 hours per week. If this figure is scaled to a typical school year, it amounts to approximately six weeks of work time.

This time savings is not necessarily directed toward reducing workload. According to the research, teachers use the freed-up time for more detailed feedback to students, individualized lesson preparation, communication with parents, or the ability to finish work earlier. This makes the case for AI implementation in schools more concrete: it's not about replacing teachers, but about reducing repetitive operations around teaching.

That said, the figure is based on self-assessment by teachers who already regularly use AI. It doesn't mean that any tool will automatically produce the same result in every school. The effect will depend on access to services, staff skill levels, internal policies, and how well a particular task suits automation.

What This Means

OpenAI is moving from general conversations about AI in education to large-scale training of users on the ground. If the program provides educators with clear scenarios and rules for verifying results, school processes could become one of the most practical applications of generative AI.