News

BIG news this week on the May Revision, which has so many moving parts we are really going to need those budget workshops to dive into all of this. For the moment, this weekly update touches on the big dollar items and some of the politics. Tim raises the $7 Billion + opportunity just approved by the FCC for distribution of funding that has a crazy short window for getting your share of the money. Next week we will get more into that issue too. Hope you enjoy what we’ve got for you this week. Open for video briefing.

Spring greetings to DP coordinators, school administrators and counselors!

The UC A-G Course Management Portal is now open for the 2021-2022 school year.

CAWS strongly recommends all DP schools begin the process of updating their A-G lists early to ensure you have plenty of time to update your A-G list before the UC admissions application opens on August 1. This should include a review of your IB courses, and IB program 9-12 course sequences. It is vital that your diploma program pathways for students align with UC A-G requirements.

Actions at the May State Board of Education (SBE) meeting mirrored efforts across the state to make a path back to normalcy – a mix of measures to move us forward from the pandemic and prepare for any similar situations (pandemics, natural disasters, locusts) in the future as well as to restart work that was placed on hold when the pandemic hit.

Leading this week's video update is a snapshot of the President's expansive plan that impacts early education through higher education and family initiatives. We also hear about a couple of important bills, the digital chip shortage and the latest revenue numbers. Hope you find it informative.

Continue for details and links.

Another interesting week for the political and tech issues impacting K-12. Tim and I cover some good stuff with our regular guest Governor Bob Wise. We are also joined by special guest, Blake Heller, of the Digital Advisors team who is Harvard’s gift to our discussion connecting the importance of data, “evidence-based” practices and the imperative for learning recovery efforts in districts. Enjoy this update and have a good weekend!

Video Update - Budget, Politics and Technology, March 28, 2021,

This week Jack O’Connell joined Tim to discuss new budget numbers, Governor Newsom nominating a new Attorney General and some insight into a new federal infrastructure bill in the works. Tim talks about US ED Data showing inequity in returning to school, cybersecurity and highlights some great resources provided by the FBI to help teachers and students learn safe online surfing. Hope you enjoy!!


Click HERE to see the online video briefing.


Articles discussed this week:
• New US Ed Data Shows Inequity in Returning to School
• FCC Says ISP’s are Eagerly Pursuing Broadband Subsidy
• FBI Issues New Cybersecurity Warnings
• FBI Recognizes South Dakota
• FBI Safe Online Surfing
• Mississippi Stepping Up the Digital Divide


-Kevin

Kevin Gordon, President
Capitol Advisors Group, LLC

Over the past two weeks, policy committee activity in both houses of the Legislature has ramped up, with committees working in earnest to deal with the hundreds of bills introduced this year. The Senate Education Committee has now held three bill hearings, and the Assembly Education Committee joined them this week, holding its first bill hearing of 2021.

In addition to a full list of actions taken by the Education Committees (included below), we want to highlight some key pieces of legislation we think will be of particular interest to education stakeholders and school leaders.

Governor Newsom signed AB 86 into law this morning. It takes effect immediately.



Barrett Snider
Partner | Capitol Advisors Group

Enjoy a weekly update from our legislative advocates at Capitol Advisors, LLC in Sacramento. February 27, 2021

Dear Colleagues,

Happy New Year to you and your loved ones.

Many of you participated in the IB Listening session on Dec. 17, 2020 hosted by IB and featuring Adrian Kearney Director IB World Schools. IBC's were sent this message recently from Adrian which addresses many of the items we discussed and I wanted to forward it now to ensure that everyone associated with CAWS is aware of this important information.

Best wishes for a healthy and safe semester,
Robin

Capitol Advisors keep California educators up to date on February 24, 2021. Open for details.

Legislative Updates from Capitol Advisors



Analysis of Governor Newsom's 2021-22 State Budget Proposal
Analysis
Governor Releases Proposal for In-Person Instruction Grants
Proposal
Non-COVID-19 Related Education Bills Begin to Emerge

Governor Newsom just proposed an aggressive school reopening effort that will be part of his state budget proposal in January. His proposal is built upon three pillars, which are copied below.

The IQC has posted the revised draft of the Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum for its final 45-day public comment period, which concludes January 21, 2021. Open for the link to the revised draft. This draft reflects the changes adopted at the IQC’s November 18-19, 2020 meeting.


Following this 45-day public comment period, the draft will be presented to the SBE, likely at its March 2021. Meeting. Under current law, the SBE is required to take final action on the model curriculum by March 31, 2021.

Best,
Caitlin

Caitlin Jung
Legislative Counsel | Capitol Advisors Group

We will provide more detailed updates on the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) Fiscal Outlook and the revenue picture for 2020-21 and out-years, but wanted to give you the highlights of dramatically improved projections for the Proposition 98 guarantee for 2020-21: