Welcome to Playground Post, a bi-weekly newsletter that keeps education innovators ahead of what’s next.

Here’s what we have on deck for today…

1. The $3.7M lesson: K-12 schools facing tsunami of ransomware attacks

2. College Board just made a big bet (and it's not about college)

3. The end of student data harvesting?

The $3.7M lesson: K-12 schools facing tsunami of ransomware attacks

Schools are learning an expensive lesson about cybersecurity.

• Ransomware attacks on K-12 schools have skyrocketed 393% since 2016

• Criminals are targeting five schools per week

• Each attacks costs ~$3.76M

There’s no hiding it. Schools are treasure troves of sensitive information — student health records, financial information… The wild part?

66% of school districts don’t have a single full-time cybersecurity position. But wait, it gets worse…

12% of schools spend nothing on cybersecurity at all.

The main issue is school districts don’t have funding for cybersecurity. The Fed and some states are stepping in to help, but even with additional funding, cybersecurity programs are expensive — from tooling to staffing.

There’s undoubtedly a huge opportunity for affordable, easy-to-implement security solutions designed for resource-constrained schools.

College board just made a big bet (and it's not about college)

The testing giant behind SAT and AP is making a strategic move into career and technical education with its new Career Kickstart designed to accelerate high schoolers on their paths to in-demand careers.

In the fall of 2025, Career Kickstart will launch a pilot program for hundreds of schools to test their new cybersecurity pathway. How does it work?

1. Take two courses

   1. AP Cybersecurity 1: Networking Fundamentals

   2. AP Cybersecurity 2: Cybersecurity Fundamentals

2. Take the end-of-course exams

3. If you pass, you get a free voucher for additional test prep and industry certifications like CompTIA Network+ and CompTIA Security+

College Board decided to start with a cybersecurity pathway considering the 457,000+ cybersecurity job openings in the U.S. last year, but plans to roll out multiple pathways across various career clusters including IT, health science, and business.

The timing of College Board’s Career Kickstart program aligns perfectly with Trump's proposed education plan emphasizing vocational training over traditional college paths.

When an education giant like College Board bets big on career education, it likely signals a big shift in the industry. The landscape may be shifting away from “Where should I go to college?” towards “What do I want my career to look like?”

The end of student data harvesting?

A class-action lawsuit against IXL Learning is moving forward after a federal judge in early November denied the ed tech platform’s motions to compel arbitration and dismiss without prejudice.

Judge Rita Lin rejected IXL's attempt to force arbitration, ruling that school districts don't automatically act as parents' agents when signing vendor contracts.

This decision could set a precedent for how student data privacy is handled across the industry.

The Ed Tech Law Center, which is behind the suit, is also targeting PowerSchool with similar claims. Their attorney Julie Liddell calls these cases "the first of many to come," suggesting a broader legal campaign against data-harvesting business models in education.

The era of unrestricted student data collection may be ending.

If you're building ed tech tools, now would be a good time to audit your data practices and potentially consider alternative business models that don't rely heavily on student data harvesting.

If you enjoyed this edition of Playground Post, please share it with your friends!

We’ll be back with another edition on Tuesday. See you then!

To stay up-to-date on all things education innovation, visit us at playgroundpost.com.