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Any of these courses can now be added to your school A-G list for the
2024-2025 school year.

 English Language and Literature IB SL1/Preparation Course
 English Language and Literature IB SL
 Chemistry IB SL1/Preparation Course
 French IB SL1/Preparation Course
 Spanish IB SL1/Preparation Course
 Spanish Ab Initio IB SL1/Preparation Course
 Spanish Ab Initio IB SL
 Theatre IB HL1 (now approved for honors)

While in recent years the state has seen a growing push by outside groups to use initiatives to implement policy changes while circumventing the state legislative process entirely, these efforts have rarely been successful in ultimately making the ballot. What has become more common practice is for proponents to use an eligible ballot measure to put pressure on the Legislature and Administration to broker a deal that will achieve the proponent’s aims while also pulling their initiative from the ballot before it officially qualifies. This was particularly the case this year, where we saw an unusually high number of measures pulled from eligibility after an agreement was reached just days before the June 27th qualification deadline.

Wednesday, July 3, was the deadline for all bills to be heard and passed by policy committees, and the last day before the Legislature takes Summer Recess. Legislators return on August 5 to wrap up their work for the year before the 2023-24 Legislative Session closes on August 31 at midnight.

We wanted to give you a little detail on the agreement reached last night on the State Budget that will be acted upon very swiftly in the coming days.

The agreement includes the revenue and taxation proposal adopted by the Legislature, which speeds up the suspension of some tax credits and increases general fund revenue by about $5 billion in the budget year compared to the Governor’s May Revision. With overall general fund revenue at about $211 billion in the budget year, there is a corresponding increase to the Proposition 98 Guarantee to $115.3 billion.

May 25, 2024 - 4:00 AM PDT! Can't make it live? Don’t worry! Register anyway, and Toddle will make sure to send you the recording

When was the last time you truly felt ahead of the curve in your policy review and your programme evaluation? Juggling exam logistics, viva voces, DP1 subject selection, and planning for AY 2024-25 requires not just keeping up but staying ahead.

Join fellow PYP coordinators, CAWS Association leaders, and IB World Schools to gather resources brainstorm ways in which we can better serve students learning multiple languages in the PYP setting.

This event is for all school teachers and leaders!
May 17, 2024 - Americas - 11 AM PT

At Toddle, the Big Hairy Audacious Goal is to give each teacher 10 additional hours every week while helping elevate their practices! Their second Demo Day is all about innovations that will bring them closer to this goal.

Governor Newsom’s January Budget recognized a significant deficit compared to the revenue and expenditure numbers used in the 2023 Budget Act, but within a couple months both the Department of Finance (DOF) and Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) announced that revenues were falling sharply below even the numbers used in January. Fortunately, we have had better news recently, and while we are still likely to see a revenue shortfall in the May Revision (compared to the Governor’s January estimates) the magnitude of the shortfall should be more manageable than feared just a few weeks ago. We are hopeful this could mean we are able to mitigate or even avoid cuts to ongoing K-14 programs in the budget.

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