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Open this page to meet some of Students of the Year.

Last week, both the Senate and Assembly Education committees dispensed with their first hearings to consider newly introduced bills in 2024. Altogether, the two committees heard over 45 bills. We wanted to highlight a few of the major bills that passed and will now move on to the next steps in the legislative process. You can also find a list of all the actions taken by the committees here.

This morning, Governor Newsom released his initial draft of the 2024-25 budget.

First, the big news: earlier, the Legislative Analyst had recently opined that the state’s budget shortfall (covering 3 years) would total $68 billion. Significantly, the Department of Finance estimates that shortfall to be only $38 billion. Although revenues are still down, The Governor’s proposed budget reflects that lower deficit number.

As we gear up for our upcoming Spring Seminar, I'm excited to invite you to our post event mixer hosted by our partners - Toddle. Toddle is an AI-powered Teaching and Learning Platform, licensed by the IB and used by 1600+ schools globally. Our partnership is aligned with our mission to bring innovative learning experiences to our IB community.

CAWS is pleased to share this wonderful news from Liz Weiser, PYP IBC at the Casita Center for Technology, Science and Math. She and her principal will be traveling to Washington DC in a few weeks to attend the ceremony.

Liz has shared several inspiring articles, the official school summary from the California Department of Education and an Instagram video.

I hope you enjoy learning more about this exceptional IB School.

The actions at the November State Board of Education meeting focused largely on two major items – the revised Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) and the 2023 California School Dashboard. 

The board also heard thoughtful policy proposals from the 2023 Student Advisory Board on Education and welcomed a new Chief Deputy of Public Instruction.

Thank you to the French American International School and their teachers for such excellent and thorough work on these course submissions.

DP and CP schools may now add these new courses to their school A-G course list. The UC Course Management Portal will close on August 31. If you have not already done so, please check your school or district A-G course list for accuracy, and make any necessary changes, deletions, or additions.

Welcome back to another year of creating sparks that shape the learning of your students.

CAWS continues to serve as the IB Association with the largest number of schools in the United States and North America! California's 228 IB Schools with 282 IB Programmes ranks fourth in the world following the United States, Canada and China. We are also thrilled to welcome 48 Candidate Programmes this year and look forward to getting to know you.

The California Association of IB World Schools is proud to welcome our newest board member. Jared has a unique perspective on IB as a former DP student and has served in diverse roles as an exemplary teacher and leader at the first IB School in California.

It is with great joy that I introduce you to Jared.

Warm regards,
Robin

House Republicans have introduced a bill to significantly decrease federal education spending for FY 2024. The most substantial proposed reduction is an 80 percent ($14.7 billion) cut to Title I, which Republicans argue would offset the surge in federal education spending during the pandemic

As you head into the final weeks of school, remember that your school UC ‘a-g’ list needs to be reviewed and updated for the 2023-2024 school year. This includes your IB Program course offerings. UC recommends that schools complete any updates by the Primary Phase deadline of June 30 to avoid any last minute problems or changes, and so that students can view an accurate list by the time the UC admissions application opens on August 1.

Just a quick note on what is currently going on in Sacramento as the Legislature faces tight deadlines for action and as intense budget negotiations commence.

As we reported after the election, fully two thirds of members of the Assembly and Senate are new this year. For some (mostly veteran staff and advocates), that bodes chaos. For others it means fresh new ideas and energy. So far, as predicted, it is a bit of both.

Thank you to everyone who joined us for our MYP/PYP Concept-Based Roundtable. For those of you who were unable to join us here is a recording of our event.

Just a quick note to bring you up-to-speed on what is happening in Sacramento as education committees start hearing a raft of bills for the new year. Record numbers of new members mean there are record numbers of new bills for committees to consider.

We invite you to apply to serve as CAWS Secretary. This position offers an individual the opportunity to gain understanding of the services CAWS provides for our IB schools in California within the friendly environment of our board.