In 2026, it’s hard to imagine how anyone ever lived without electricity. But in the mid-1930s, 90% of rural households in the U.S. were, electrically speaking, powerless. While most cities got electricity more than a decade earlier, many farms and rural towns didn’t gain access to the technology until 1936. But as the government would soon discover, access wasn’t the only thing keeping rural America from electrifying. In fact, lots of folks weren’t sure they even wanted electricity. After all, they’d gotten along just fine without it for decades, so why bother?
In reality, though, rural Americans—especially women—weren’t getting along just fine. Hard physical labor was literally taking years off their lives. Electrical appliances had the potential to simplify much of their work and save them an enormous amount of time—but only if people saw the value for themselves.
While rural Americans had plenty of logical hesitations about electricity, their primary roadblock was that they had no frame of reference for what it could actually do for them. So the newly established Rural Electrification Administration (REA) set about proving the benefits of electricity. The REA hired advisors to visit 28 states, where they hosted what came to be called “electric circuses”: roadshows demonstrating tools like electric stoves, refrigerators and vacuum cleaners. And it worked. By 1950, 90% of American farms had connected to electricity. And as a result, women on farms had more time to pursue interests outside of household labor.
Electric circuses worked because the REA didn’t force people to adopt electricity, or pressure them with the idea that they were “falling behind” their city-dwelling peers. They simply made the tangible benefits clear. That’s why we intend our newest issue of SchoolCEO to be an “artificial intelligence circus”: an exploration of the practical ways AI could revolutionize your central office work.
In this edition, we’ll share thoughts from school leaders, communicators and technology officers—as well as ethicists, researchers, and private sector experts—to give you a better frame of reference for what AI could actually do for your schools. We won’t just talk about it, either. We’ll demonstrate actual use cases. We’re not here to apply pressure or to dismiss your concerns about AI; in fact, we share many of them. But we are here to explore how this evolving technology could give you time back—time to pursue the things that are most important to you at work and in life.
—SchoolCEO Editor Melissa Hite in our brand-new Winter 2026 edition
One question for you
1. Where has AI helped you more than you expected—and where are you still hesitant to use it?
Email us at editor@schoolceo.com to let us know! We read every response, and your answers help shape future SchoolCEO content.
Two resources to help
1. Join our senior manager of media and research Brittany Keil Wednesday, 2/25 at 12 p.m. CST to explore the opportunities AI presents for streamlining tedious tasks, personalizing communication, and refocusing school leaders' time on impactful work. We'll also address the inherent risks, including data privacy, security, and the critical need for staff training. Register for the webinar here.
2. Our newest issue of SchoolCEO is out now, and it’s a special edition all about AI. We’ll share a look at how AI is changing search engine optimization, some guidelines on how NOT to use AI, and even a mini library of school communications prompts you can start using right away. We’ll also show you how real districts are adopting AI systemwide and even using it to make their schools more equitable.
Three ideas to get you thinking
1. “AI doesn’t just change tasks, it challenges identities. Teachers may feel threatened by tools that can help write or even create lesson plans for them. Office staff may wonder how automation will reshape or even eliminate their roles. In moments like these, people don’t just need to understand how a tool works; they need to know they still matter. That reassurance and the clarity of purpose that supports it are the work of communications, not the technology team.” — former school comms chief Greg Turchetta in “It’s Time to Take the Wheel”
2. “Most students don't need adults to police their AI use. They need adults in conversation with them, helping them build judgment. That's the work—not detecting, not banning, not pretending AI doesn't exist, but building shared understanding about what responsible use looks like and what harm looks like. When that conversation happens, students learn to navigate a credibility-shifting world with confidence and critical thinking skills.” — AI researcher and ethicist Rebecca Bultsma in “When Everything Looks Real and Nothing Feels True”
3. “What prompted me to write the book [The AI-Driven Leader] was seeing that leaders around the world—without realizing it—were making AI adoption their goal when it's not. Everybody was talking about the tech, but the tech is not the difference that makes the difference. It is you as a leader and how you wield it that makes the difference.” — Geoff Woods, bestselling author and founder of consulting firm AI Leadership, in "Strategy First, Technology Second"