Petition for Intentional Technology Use in SMUSD Schools

Dear Dr. Johnsen, Dr. Campbell and San Marcos Unified Board Members,

We are parents and community members concerned about the growing overreliance on screen-based learning in our public schools, and we are asking San Marcos Unified to take action.

Despite the massive level of investment in edtech programs and 1:1 devices, test scores in our district and across the country have been declining for over a decade. Literacy rates are at historic lows. Students are struggling with executive function. Extreme behaviors are on the rise. The achievement gap is widening. At the same time, students are less digitally literate than the generation before them.

The lack of independent, peer-reviewed research for edtech programs like iReady is concerning. Meanwhile, research shows that comprehension and retention improve when working on paper. Internet-connected devices fragment attention and pull teachers away from teaching toward monitoring online behavior. Most edtech programs collect student data, gamify learning in ways that undermine deep thinking, and have not demonstrated that they meaningfully improve outcomes at scale.

Districts across the country are taking action. Los Angeles Unified, the 2nd largest school district in the country, recently passed a landmark resolution committing to an intentional technology policy with specific limits. We are asking San Marcos Unified to do the same.

We appreciate the district's commitment to developing a Human-Centered Technology Plan and see it as an important step in the right direction. But our students cannot afford to wait. We urge the district to move forward in time to impact the 2026 / 2027 school year and to ensure that the plan's scope reflects the full weight of the evidence.

The following requests are grounded in evidence and offered in a spirit of collaboration. Our goal is not to eliminate technology, but to ensure the way technology is used in SMUSD is intentional, transparent, age-appropriate, and in the best interests of our students.

Our Requests
We, the undersigned, call on San Marcos Unified to adopt the following reforms during the 2026 / 2027 school year:

1. Embrace a Fundamental Shift in Approach to Technology

We are asking the district to take a more cautious, evidence-based approach to technology in our schools. Every tool adopted should serve a clear instructional purpose, demonstrate meaningful efficacy via independent research vs. existing methodologies, and not simply follow trends or prioritize convenience. We ask the district to:

Excessive and poorly structured screen time poses documented risks to children's development, attention, and well-being. We ask the district to:

Stronger safeguards are needed to ensure that technology is used safely, appropriately and responsibly. We ask the district to:

Given that the majority of edtech programs are not supported by independent research demonstrating improved student outcomes at scale, we ask the district to:

Families should have visibility into what tools their children are using and how their data is being handled. We ask the district to:

None of these changes will succeed without meaningful investment in our teaching staff. We ask the district to:

The evidence is clear, and public consensus is growing. Other districts, including LAUSD, have already taken meaningful steps in this direction. We respectfully call on San Marcos Unified to do the same. The time to act is now to protect the development and academic success of our students

Respectfully,

The Undersigned