Nadra Nittle

Education reporter

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Heather Gauck has spent most of her three-decade teaching career sleep-deprived — turning in after midnight and waking up at dawn. The Michigander made the sacrifice to ensure she completed all the lesson planning and grading needed to serve her special education students in Grand Rapids Public Schools while raising three children of her own. But with artificial intelligence (AI), Gauck has now reclaimed a precious resource: time.

“This year alone, I’ve used AI to help with lesson plans, differentiating materials, writing parts of IEPs [ individualized education programs ], communicating with families, and all of that adds up to an entire planning day that I get back,” she said. Entering the 2025-26

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