When should school leaders use AI writing tools, and when shouldn't they?

AI is powerful for drafting — generating a first version of an email, a newsletter section, or evaluation language that you then edit in your own voice. It's especially useful for overcoming the blank-page problem on writing tasks that aren't your primary expertise.

Where it gets risky is in high-stakes judgment. AI can't observe a classroom. It can't assess whether a teacher's practice has genuinely improved. It can't weigh the political dynamics of a difficult staffing decision. When you use AI to draft evaluation narratives, you must ensure the result sounds like you, reflects your actual observations, and represents your professional judgment — not a generic summary.

The test is simple: would you be comfortable telling the teacher that AI helped you write this? If the answer is no, you're relying on it too heavily. The tool should extend your capacity, not replace your judgment.