Parents and educators protest Google’s AI-linked school search policy in Chicago

About 30 people gathered outside Google’s Chicago office on November 11, 2026, to oppose generative AI in schools. The protest followed Google’s warning that schools rejecting AI would lose student access to its search engine—a condition now pushing Chicago Public Schools to explore whether it can remove AI summaries or find another search tool.

Parents and educators made up most of the crowd in the West Loop, joined by students and school board members. Illinois Families for Public Schools led the rally, where protesters chanted, “Hey Google, nice try. We don’t want your Gemini,” according to Chalkbeat’s reporting from the demonstration.

The organizing coalition also included Schools Beyond Screens–CPS Chicago, Distraction Free Schools–Illinois, the Illinois Federation of Teachers, the Chicago Teachers Union and the Chicago chapter of Veterans for Peace, CBS Chicago reported before the rally. The protest targeted both Google’s school access policies and generative AI in education products.

For students who spoke, the objection extended beyond a settings menu. Reese Mackey, a 16-year-old junior at Kenwood Academy High School, challenged the idea of substituting automated responses for instruction and feedback from school staff.

We are owed lessons and feedback from the people CPS hired, people who are passionate and dedicated to making learning fun

Reese Mackey, Kenwood Academy High School junior, speaking at the protest

The search engine is part of the dispute

Google’s position is that AI is embedded too deeply in Search for the company to offer an AI-free version, CBS Chicago reported. The disputed features include AI Overview, the generated summary that appears above links to websites. Blocking a chatbot therefore does not settle what students encounter when they search.

In its November 3 announcement, Google said Gemini, Gemini Notebook, Gemini in Classroom and Google Search would be off for K–12 student accounts until administrators explicitly enabled them. Those controls were described as forthcoming changes, not an already completed cutoff. Google promised schools more details in the coming months before rollout.

CPS has not settled its response to Google’s announcement. A district spokesperson told Chalkbeat it was “actively exploring all options to independently suppress” AI Overview. If it cannot give students access without that feature, the spokesperson said, CPS will “look to other search solutions.” That remains a conditional next step, not an announced replacement.

CPS had already pulled back

The district announced Monday that it would block Gemini, ChatGPT and Claude on student accounts. It cited student privacy and safety, along with compliance with federal and state privacy laws. The restriction concerns student access; it is not simply a decision about whether teachers should recommend those tools for assignments.

That move followed an earlier retreat. CPS had planned to introduce Google Gemini in high schools during the 2026–27 school year, then reversed course after community pushback. It had previously approved Gemini, Microsoft Copilot and Gemini Notebook under contracts barring the companies from using student data to train their AI models.

A three-year pause, not another guidebook

Illinois Families for Public Schools wants a three-year moratorium on generative AI in CPS classrooms and what it calls “human-centered education.” Executive director Cassie Creswell argued at the rally that schools should reassess their use of Google if AI cannot be separated from its search engine.

The group’s pledge also seeks a district chief privacy officer, screen-time limits across grade levels and a ban on collecting biometric data, including face scans and fingerprints. About half of the incoming Chicago Board of Education members, including President-elect Jessica Biggs, signed it. The protesters’ demands thus reach beyond blocking individual AI services to district rules on data collection and classroom technology.