AI in education — what's working, what's risky, and what charter schools should do next. Jed Wallace and Andy Rotherham are joined by Bellwether's Mary Wells and Marisa Mission for a wide-ranging conversation.

They dig into how AI tools are actually being used day to day, why "human in the loop" means more than just a review step, and what cognitive science tells us about the real danger of students offloading hard thinking to technology. The conversation also covers the evolving role of teachers, the economic ripple effects of AI, and why the charter school mindset of curiosity and rigor matters more than ever.

In this episode:

1. How Bellwether's team is personally using AI tools like Claude Skills and Gemini Canvas
2. What cognitive offloading means and why it threatens real learning
3. The "ambidextrous adoption" approach to AI in schools
4. Where pockets of innovation are emerging — and the equity concerns that come with them
5. Dream Charter School's AI readiness curriculum
6. The bimodal classroom: AI-encouraged assignments alongside blue books and pen-and-paper
7. Why teacher support and family engagement are critical gaps right now
8. The White House AI Policy Framework and state-level responses
9. Will AI cause a white-collar job apocalypse — or fuel entrepreneurship?
10. What charter schools should be doing right now

Show Notes & Resources:

1. Bellwether AI work
2. The Leading Indicator: AI in Education newsletter (Marisa Mission & Alex Spurrier)
3. Productive Struggle (Bellwether)
4. Built for Learning case studies (Bellwether)
5. Robin Lake / CRPE on AI in Education
6. Dan Meyer on AI and math
7. AFT & Moms for Liberty on screens
8. Blue Rose Research – AI public opinion
9. White House AI Policy Framework
10. DOL AI Literacy Framework
11. Julia Freeland Fisher
12. Chad Alderman
13. Marguerite Roza / Edunomics Lab

Guests: Mary Wells (Co-Founder, Bellwether) and Marisa Mission (Bellwether)

Hosts: Jed Wallace (CharterFolk) and Andy Rotherham (Co-Founder & Senior Partner, Bellwether)

Watch the full video on YouTube.

WonkyFolk is produced by CharterFolk.