Compromise pension reform deal reached in Calif.

(AP) SACRAMENTO, Calif. - With election politics in play, Gov. Jerry Brown on Tuesday announced systemic reforms to save billions of dollars in California's underfunded pension systems but dropped key changes he had sought to avoid a showdown with labor allies.

As a result, pension reform advocates said the Democratic proposal fails to address the long-term costs of the state's pension liabilities, largely by leaving benefits for the state's more than 200,000 employees unchanged without contract changes negotiated with unions.

The reform deal does not include putting new government workers in a hybrid system that includes a 401(k)-style plan, greater independence for the board that oversees the state's main pension fund, or a reduction in retiree health care costs, which are skyrocketing.

U.S. public pension plans face $1 trillion shortfall

Still, Brown hailed the deal as a landmark achievement and said it will make pension benefits for public employees lower than they were during his first term in office, in 1975. A legislative committee passed the bill on a 4-2 party-line vote late Tuesday, setting up a full vote by lawmakers Friday.

"These reforms make fundamental changes that rein in costs and help to ensure that our public retirement system is sustainable for the long term," the governor said in a statement. "These reforms require sacrifice from public employees and represent a significant step forward."

Labor leaders also were not pleased by what they saw as a violation of collecting bargaining rights. The reforms for new employees include an annual pension cap, contributions of at least half of their pension costs and a higher retirement age for full benefits.

"We are fighting back and we're struggling, and in this case it appears like we're losing," said Dave Low, chairman of Californians for Retirement Security, a labor coalition representing more than 1.5 million public employees and retirees.

The changes that will save the most money apply primarily to new workers, rather than existing ones, so the greatest financial benefit to the state will be decades in the future.

"We've lived beyond our means. The chickens are coming home to roost," Brown said during a news conference in Los Angeles, referring to the difficulty of negotiating pension reforms with the Legislature's Democratic majority and the public employee labor unions that fund their campaigns.
Pension reform has been an undercurrent throughout the entire legislative session this year, in part because the state's two main pension funds, the largest in the nation, are so badly underfunded — by at least $150 billion.

California also faces an estimated $60 billion tab to pay health and dental benefits for current and retired state employees. That estimate doesn't include obligations owed to city, county and public school employees.

But the governor also had a lot at stake: He has promised reforms since rolling out a 12-point plan last October and is trying to persuade voters that he is fiscally responsible at a time when he is asking them to increase the sales and income taxes in November.

Although pension payments account for a fraction of state spending, the cost has been growing in recent years.

Republicans note that the state's main pension system cost $370 million in 2001, but the cost went up to $1.7 billion in 2011, nearly the amount the state spends to fund the 23-campus California State University system.

Brown's original plan was projected to save $4 billion to $11 billion over 30 years. On Tuesday, the governor said the changes, if enacted by the Legislature, would save $30 billion, although the time period for that savings was not clear.

Republican Sen. Mimi Walters said the savings in the Democratic plan are just a fraction of the state's overall unfunded public pension liability.

"The voters need to see that this is not true pension reform, and the reason that I believe the governor is putting forward this pension reform act, if you will, is because he knows that he cannot ask voters in the state of California to increase taxes if he doesn't take on this critical issue," Walters, of Lake Forest, said in an interview.

The reforms include a cap on annual pension payments for new employees at $110,100 for most workers and $132,120 for employees not covered by Social Security, such as teachers and some public safety workers. They also require new employees to contribute at least half of their pension costs.

Reflecting longer life spans, the reform plan also raises minimum retirement ages for new employees. A civil service worker will now have to work until age 67, rather than 55, to receive full benefits. For public safety workers, that goes from age 50 to 57, and the maximum benefit formula is reduced.
The plan also ends some of the most egregious abuses of the pension system, including a practice known as "spiking" in which employees are given big raises during their last year of employment as a way to inflate their pensions.

"Those items may be worth addressing for other reasons, but they have little to do with rising retirement costs," said David Crane, who served as economic adviser to former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and is now president of Govern for California, which advocates for government changes.

Crane said the proposal doesn't address the current long-term unfunded liability of the state's pension systems because it leaves benefits for current employees unchanged. Courts have ruled consistently that governments cannot make unilateral changes to existing pension benefits.

Jim Wunderman, president and CEO of the business-backed Bay Area Council, applauded the deal as a "big first step." However, some public employee unions were upset by the reforms, which must be acted upon by the Legislature by Friday.

"This is a one-size-fits-all approach that really does not work for all the different bargaining units and situations," said David Miller, president of the California Association of Professional Scientists, which represents scientists throughout state government.

He said guaranteed defined benefits are the best way to deliver a secure retirement for public employees.


via CBS News

Left and right agree on criminal justice reforms Read more: MOLLOHAN AND KEENE: Left and right agree on criminal justice reforms - Washington Times

While Americans seem to be sharply divided along partisan lines when it comes to important domestic policy issues — take health care, immigration or the national debt, for example — in at least one area of national importance, conservatives and liberals are increasingly united: criminal justice reform.

With only 5 percent of the world’s population, America incarcerates 25 percent of the world’s jail and prison population, imprisoning individuals at a rate five times higher than comparable Western, industrialized nations. During the upcoming fiscal year, the federal government would spend nearly $7 billion, a nearly $300 million increase from this year, under the president’s budget proposal to house prisoners and very little, comparatively, on investments to curb the deluge of prisoners entering the system.

Policymakers and opinion leaders from both sides of the aisle recognize that this rate of incarceration is not sustainable or wise and are increasingly rallying around the same common-sense solutions to improve public safety while saving money. Prominent conservative leaders such as former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, former Reagan administration Attorney General Edwin Meese III, and President of Americans for Tax Reform Grover Norquist all have called for an overhaul of the criminal justice regime.

Despite the growing bipartisan consensus in support of criminal justice reform, the federal government has done little in recent years to address the pressing issues of growing incarceration rates, prison overcrowding and recidivism. These issues place a heavy burden on the judicial system and on society at large. Incarceration trends are not promising, nor are estimates that the federal prison population is projected to grow substantially over the next several years. We cannot ignore the significant challenges this creates for the Bureau of Prisons and continue to believe that the “lock ‘em and leave ‘em” approach is working.

The Senate Judiciary Committee recently held a hearing to address rising prison costs. It’s promising that Congress is talking about the issues, but the time for talk is over — it is time for Congress to act, and it should look to states for the road map.

In several states, legislators have crossed the aisle to build consensus and enact reforms on a bipartisan basis, easily outpacing the federal government. In tough-on-crime Texas, the Republican chairman of the state House Corrections Committee worked with the Democratic chairman of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee to shepherd through legislation in 2007 that increased drug treatment capacity and expanded diversion from prison for nonviolent, low-level offenders. Similarly, the Georgia legislature unanimously passed a bill this year that diverts low-level offenders away from prison and, when appropriate, into drug treatment, reserving prison for dangerous offenders. States such as Kansas, South Carolina and Ohio have enacted similar legislation.

Bipartisan reforms at the state level have proved to be socially and economically beneficial. Texas’ reforms saved an estimated $440 million in a single year. Over the past few years, its prison population has decreased, along with its crime rates, allowing the state to close a prison for the first time in history in 2011. Other state reforms have had similar experiences.

Instead of throwing good money after bad, Congress should follow the example of these states and take steps to curb federal prison population growth. Congress can start with proven solutions that reduce recidivism and give prisoners a second chance. One example is increasing the number of days that a prisoner can earn off his sentence for good behavior, called “good time credit.” Congress also should implement programming within prisons that would increase the likelihood of prisoners’ success after release, such as more drug treatment programming, educational opportunities and vocational training, all of which have proved to be effective at reducing recidivism. These investments make it less likely that the government will have to spend money in the future to re-incarcerate the same people.

Congress also should consider who is incarcerated in federal prisons. Sensible people agree that violent criminals belong behind bars, but the reverse is often true as well — many low-level, nonviolent offenders do not belong behind bars. The increased use of diversion programs, probation and other prison alternatives, all of which many states have successfully employed, should be systematically implemented by the federal government.

At a time when almost every issue seems to bitterly divide Democrats and Republicans, reforming our flawed criminal justice policies has produced consensus rather than division across our nation. Congress ought to take advantage of this political consensus to develop and enact practical yet effective solutions and embrace criminal justice reform.

Former Rep. Alan B. Mollohan, West Virginia Democrat, was chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee on commerce, justice, science and related agencies. David A. Keene, former chairman of the American Conservative Union, is a member of the board of directors of the Constitution Project.

Read more: MOLLOHAN AND KEENE: Left and right agree on criminal justice reforms - Washington Times

Via: Washington Times

Empowering Moms to Make Healthier Choices

By Mike Casey

When Dotty Hagmier began having children, her life changed of course—but not always for the better.

It seemed that somebody was always sick in their house. Her first child would catch a cold and spread it around. Her second child came down with respiratory problems, and her third child was constantly on antibiotics. “We were on a sick cycle,” Hagmier said.

Not only that by she noticed that her immune system was dangerously low and she was tired all the time. Finally, “I decided this had to stop."

Today, Hagmier is the founder and president of Moms in Charge, a non-profit organization in Aliso Viejo focused on empowering and educating moms on the facts about food, chemicals and environment, and implementing changes in the way moms think and are able to provide healthier choices for their children.

“Our main focus is empowering moms to raise healthy and vibrant kids,” said Hagmier, who launched the operation last September in an organic garden. “A lot of times we are so focused on our children, and that’s great, but a lot of time we don’t make time for our own health. I’m from the south. Our motto is ‘If mama ain’t healthy, nobody is healthy.’”

This Saturday, Moms in Charge will host its first-ever event, A Day for M.E. (mom empowerment), from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Costa Mesa Hilton, Pacific Room, with an evening event from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Registration is available online by visiting www.adayformeconference.com, or on the day of the event, beginning at 8 a.m.
“I wanted to reach out to as many moms as possible so for an entire day they could let themselves have one single day to learn about things that could make them healthier, to boost health and wellness for themselves and their families, and just have fun and win a lot of prizes,” Hagmier said.

To that end, attendees will have a chance to win a Spa Day at the Montage Resort in Laguna Beach, an iPad and much more. 

A Day for M.E. features an impressive lineup of professional speakers including Dr. Christy Westen of Simply Vibrant, a leader in treating the body holistically for total wellness; Renata Wood of OC Body Talk, focusing on women’s health and confidence; and musician Mark Romero.

The keynote speaker will be Joe Cross, creator of the documentary Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead.

“After several years of eating the worst possible foods and bringing myself to near death, I decided it was time to stop and do something about my health,” said the film maker and producer. “Children learn life patterns from home, and Moms in Charge is equipping women to take control of their health and their homes.”

In addition, local raw and vegan/organic chefs Jenny Ross of 118 Degrees and Julia Corbett of Diviana Alchemy will be conducting food demos to help moms implement those principles into their daily lives.

Moms in Charge has about 50 monthly members, but the real impact of the organization will be felt through its new website, which will be launched this week, and through its events and teleconference calls so it can reach moms throughout and beyond Southern California.
Currently, Moms in Charge has nearly 1,300 Facebook followers.

“Our plan is to branch out all over the country so we can bring more awareness about what we are putting in our body, on our skin and in our environment on how we can control the toxins,” said Hagmier, who works as an RN and nutritionist.

“For our family it’s been a 180 degree transformation. My son is well and our kids (now age 3, 5 and 7) are never. Before I was trying to survive and figure out how to get my next nap and keep up with their energy. Now I’m running Moms in Charge and living a healthy, vibrant life. It has been amazing.”

But Dotty admits that because of our culture and our standard American diet, it’s oftentimes difficult to change our family's diet. She just wants moms to be better informed to make healthier choices.

“Just the little things can change our entire health,” she said. “We teach making one small step at a time, because our journey to health is just that, a journey.”

For more information on Moms in Charge, visit: www.momsincharge.org. To register for Saturday’s event go to www.adayformeconference.com.

Via: http://alisoviejo.patch.com/articles/empowering-moms-to-make-healthier-choices

New Report: California Non-Profit Hospitals Save Billions While Providing Little Charity Care in Return

Private, not-for-profit hospitals, which dominate the California hospital landscape, rack up tax exemption benefits of close to $2 billion a year beyond what they return to communities in charity care, according to a new report released today.

The report by the Institute for Health and Socio-Economic Policy, research arm of the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United, was presented today in a Sacramento hearing of a special California Senate Select Committee on Charity Care and Nonprofit Hospitals chaired by State Sen. Ellen Corbett. CNA is calling on state officials to pass legislation to rein in the abuses.

Several of the state’s biggest and best known hospitals, Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Stanford University Hospital, and Sutter Health’s California Pacific Medical Center and Alta Bates Medical Center, have the worst records, the report found, in providing charity care relative to the government subsidies they receive in favorable tax benefits.

Key findings of the report (available upon request) are:

* California private, not-for-profit hospitals reaped more than $1.8 billion in government subsidies and benefits from their tax exempt status beyond what they provided in charity care in 2010, the most recent year for which the data was publicly available.

* Kaiser Permanente and Sutter Health dwarfed the other large hospital chains in tax benefits compared to provision of charity care, together comprising over 45 percent of the total tax benefits for all California non-profits. Both were also near the bottom in percentage of charity care they provide relative to their profits.

* Economically struggling California counties and cities lose more than $1 billion as a result of the tax exemption of non-profit hospitals, and what the counties pay directly to hospitals in their geographic area to provide hospital care for the poor.

* Half of California non-profit hospitals provide 2.46 percent or less of their operating expenses on charity care, a figure well below what was once the federal standard under which hospitals would lose their tax-exempt status if falling below 5 percent of gross revenues spent on charity care.

* Three-fourths of California non-profit hospitals harvest tax benefits in excess of what they return to communities in charity care.

* Despite their image as not-for-profit institutions, the private, non-profit hospitals, especially the giant chains, are accumulating huge profits, some $4.5 billion in 2010 alone. Kaiser and Sutter alone accounted for nearly half that total.

* California non-profit hospitals are paying lavish salaries and pay packages to top executives. In 2010, 100 top executives at California non-profits received over $1 million in total compensation. Sutter, with 28 executives in the millionaire’s club, and Kaiser accounted for 45 of the 100. Kaiser CEO George Halvorson won the gold medal with a pay package of $7.7 million.

* While providing scant levels of charity care and amassing huge profits, many of the non-profit hospitals and systems have also engaged in controversial pricing practices as well as sharply cutting patient services they deem insufficiently profitable.

CNA Policy Director Michael Lighty, who presented the nurses report, said CNA is calling on the state to enact legislation that would:

* Establish a mandatory minimum level of charity care all hospitals must meet to maintain eligibility for tax-exempt status. CNA proposes a charity threshold of 8 percent of combined operating and non-operating (mostly non healthcare related investments) revenues, a percentage recommended by the Illinois Attorney General in 2006.

* Require hospitals to meet the charity threshold to qualify for tax-exempt bonds.

* Clearly define what constitutes charity care, which must be direct provision of care, not promotional activities or cost containment (interpreted by many hospitals as cutting services), as are currently within the guidelines of “community benefit.”

* Improve reporting requirements for greater public transparency in how hospitals are meeting their charity care obligation, with rigorous financial penalties for hospitals that fail to meet reporting requirements.

State Auditor: ‘It’s like the Wild West of What is Required’

The IHSP/CNA report follows the release last week of another report on non-profit hospitals by the California State Auditor. Speaking at the hearing, Grant Parks, Principal Auditor of the Auditor’s Office, noted that “state law does not require specific amounts of community benefit to justify (hospital’s) tax exempt status.” Further “state law is fairly permissive on what can be counted as community benefit…It’s like the Wild West of what is required,” said Parks.

State Board of Equalization member Betty Yee raised eyebrows across the room, which was filled with CNA members in red, when she noted that many non-profit hospitals actually provide “significantly less” charity care than do for-profit hospitals.

Ellen Shaffer, director of the EQUAL Health Network, a project of the Center for Policy Analysis, noted that, unlike California, 11 states can suspend tax exempt status, Texas and Alabama require specific thresholds for how much charity care a non-profit must provide, and Indiana, Maryland, and Texas levy civil penalties for late filings of reports – all of which are well beyond what California requires.

Lighty emphasized the disparity in what the non-profit hospitals provide, and cited an example from the Auditor’s report. The Auditor cited Sutter’s California Pacific Medical Center and found that the level of charity care as a percentage of profits was 17 percent for CPMC’s St. Luke’s Hospital, which serves a working class and low income community, compared to just 4 percent for CPMC other facilities that cater to wealthier neighborhoods.

Same city, San Francisco, same hospital system, great disparity, Lighty noted. If a level playing field is not established, those hospitals serving lower income communities and doing more to meet their obligation will be the ones most in danger of closing, just as Sutter/CPMC has been trying to do with St. Luke’s

In urging the state to enact legislation, CNA Co-President DeAnn McEwen, RN, said “the provision of uncompensated or ‘charity care’ is inherent in the social contract and the provision of charity care is an essential component of the community safety net.”

It is time, she said, “that private hospitals and multispecialty clinics operated by nonprofit corporations actually meet the social obligations for which they receive favorable tax treatment and patients receive the care they need.”

The IHSP report examined 196 California not-for-profit hospitals that are presently required to provide community benefit plans. IHSP arrived at the finding of $1.8 billion in excess by subtracting the total charity care profited for the 196 hospitals from the benefits they received in exemption from federal and state income taxes, property taxes, sales taxes, and benefits from qualifying for tax-exempt bonds and charitable donations.

Data sources include IRS 990 filings, reports to the California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD), and other public sources.

via Beyond Chron 

New Report Shows Total State Budget Debt Exceeds $4 Trillion

 ALEXANDRIA, Va., Aug. 28, 2012 -- California Leads Nation In Debt

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Aug. 28, 2012 -- Today, State Budget Solutions (SBS), a nonprofit organization advocating for fundamental reform of state budgets, released its third annual state debt report revealing that aggregated debt across the 50 states exceeds $4.19 trillion. SBS's report, which takes into account all explicit state debt and future spending obligations, found that California had the largest debt with more than $617 billion and Vermont, North Dakota and South Dakota were among the states with the smallest debt.

"These budget numbers should serve as a wake up call for every state legislature around the country. Our states are in trouble and no amount of budget gimmicks, political posturing or hiding bills will fix the massive debt that they face," said Bob Williams, President of State Budget Solutions. "There is no option for status quo or incremental adjustments. Drastic reforms, innovations and political courage are needed to put our states back on the road to fiscal survival." 

SBS's report showed that total state debt fell slightly when compared to last year's report, from $4.24 trillion to $4.19 trillion. The decrease is attributable to reductions in unemployment trust fund loan and fiscal year budget gap totals. Market-valued unfunded public pension liabilities made up more than half of all state debt at $2.8 trillion. Regular outstanding debt and other post employment benefit liabilities each contribute around $600 billion to total debt.

The states with the five largest debts remained unchanged from last year's report, although New York and Texas moved up one and two spots, respectively. Overall, California leads the nation with largest total debt followed by New York ($300 billion), Texas ($286 billion), New Jersey ($282 billion), and Illinois ($271 billion), respectively. States with the lowest debt were Vermont ($5.8 billion), North Dakota ($6.1 billion), South Dakota ($6.5 billion), Wyoming ($6.9 billion) and Nebraska ($7.8 billion).

 State Budget Solutions calculated each state's debt amount using each state's regular debt, FY2013 budget gap, outstanding unemployment trust fund loans, unfunded other post employment benefit liabilities, and the state's unfunded pension liability.

"The time for action is now. State Budget Solutions urges state legislator to take responsibility for their own state's deficit and begin implementing real solutions to fixing this growing problem," said Williams.

To view the full report click here.

To read Bob Williams full bio click here.

About State Budget Solutions

The State Budget Solutions Project is non-partisan, positive, pro-reform, proactive and anchored in fundamental-systemic solutions. The goal is to successfully engage political journalists/bloggers, state officials and opinion leaders in a new way of thinking about state government and budgets, fundamental reforms, transparency and accountability. Sharing studies and articles, data sets, anecdotes, and compelling narrative about what is happening in state and local budgets, The State Budget Solutions Project presents and disseminates information about every aspect of coming fiscal and economic disasters and, more importantly, highlights fundamental reforms to avoid them.

Check out StateBudgetSolutions.org for more information.

SOURCE State Budget Solutions 

via Sac Bee

more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/08/28/4763826/new-report-shows-total-state-budget.html#storylink=cpy

L.A. County to focus funds on chronically homeless

By Alexandra Zavis, Los Angeles Times

 

August 15, 2012, 6:59 p.m.

Los Angeles County's most entrenched street dwellers make up just a quarter of its roughly 51,000 homeless people. But studies have found they account for a disproportionate share of public spending, including on hospital emergency rooms and jails.

On Thursday, public officials and private donors will announce that they are spending $105 million to move more than a thousand of the most chronic cases into permanent housing, part of a sweeping change in the way the county deals with homelessness.

"There's a momentum that has been building in Los Angeles to change the paradigm of how we address homelessness," said county Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky. "We are spending tens of millions of dollars a year ... but I think what is clear is that we haven't intelligently invested that money in the past. What we want to do is a more intelligent way to invest in the homeless, not to have temporary solutions."

The shift to target the chronically homeless means more resources will go to people who have lived on the streets for at least a year and suffer from a serious physical, mental or substance abuse problem.

But some emergency housing providers complain that there will be less money to assist families, youths and others who may need only temporary shelter.

"My concern is by focusing all the resources on the few, we are leaving the many out in the cold," said the Rev. Andy Bales, who heads the Union Rescue Mission on L.A.'s skid row.
Officials have been talking for years about a greater focus on the chronically homeless. But the $105 million — which combines public money already set aside to assist the homeless and low-income people with new donations from philanthropic and business groups — marks a major step in bringing it to fruition.

About $88 million will go toward rental subsidies for 587 people over 15 years. In addition to using existing housing, $8.6 million will be used to develop 218 new units. The rest will be used to provide for counseling, treatment and other services designed to keep people off the streets.

The marshaling of money is the most concrete product yet of an ambitious plan launched by business and philanthropic leaders nearly two years ago with the goal of ending long-term and veteran homelessness in the county by 2016.

The Home for Good plan, an initiative of United Way of Greater Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, proposed reallocating about $230 million in existing resources each year to pay for permanent supportive housing, which includes counseling and treatment to help keep people off the streets.

They hope additional money and resources will be dedicated to the effort in coming years.
The approach was pioneered locally by the county's much-talked about Project 50 experiment and similar initiatives around the region, which have been praised not only for ending homelessness for many participants but also for saving municipalities money.

A county study found that Project 50, which began in late 2007 with the goal of housing the 50 most vulnerable, long-term homeless people on skid row, more than paid for itself, yielding a net savings of $238,700 over two years by cutting shelter, medical and jail costs.
Proponents of the approach argue that it is all the more important to spend strategically at a time when the state and federal governments are scaling back spending on affordable housing.

Jerry Newman, who co-chairs the Home for Good initiative, said that by prioritizing the most hard-core homeless for housing, "you take out the most costly portion of the issue, which will free up greater resources in the future."

More than 100 community leaders and organizations — including the county Board of Supervisors, several cities and housing authorities — endorsed the Home for Good plan in its first year. In that period, more than 3,000 of the region's long-term homeless and homeless veterans were placed in supportive housing, according to a report released in February.

A collaborative of 24 public and private contributors was formed to make the process more efficient. Members of the business and philanthropic communities, including the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, committed $5 million to the effort, officials said. That money was then used to leverage $100 million in cash and services from the city and county of Los Angeles and from Pasadena.

In all, 30 nonprofits received awards ranging from $50,000 to $2.37 million to house the 1,018 people.

Maria Cabildo, president of East L.A. Community Corp., said her organization was able with a single application to secure a grant of $2.3 million from the Los Angeles Housing Department to help build homes for 32 chronically homeless veterans in Boyle Heights and more than $6 million in subsidies through the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles to help cover their rents in the coming years. 

With that support, the organization could break ground as soon as January, shaving at least a year off what can be a complicated and time-consuming process, Cabildo said.
alexandra.zavis@latimes.com

via LATIMES

YOUTH AND EDUCATION: State students score well on national test

More California students are taking and performing well on a national test that assesses college and career readiness ---- and scoring significantly higher than the national average, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson announced this week.

The ACT exam is a curriculum-based measure of college readiness of high school seniors in English, mathematics, reading and science. It also includes an optional writing test.

According to an annual report released by the organization that administers the  exam, 103,000 California students took the exam in 2012, up 4,000 from 2011, and 31,000 from 2008.

According to ACT, students reaching a minimum benchmark score ---- which varies by subject ---- have a 50 percent chance of obtaining a B grade or higher in the corresponding college course.

For 2012, California students' scores were significantly higher than the national averages in all four subject areas and about 31 percent of California high school graduates who took the ACT met all four of the benchmarks, compared to 25 percent nationally.
For national statistics, visit www.actstudent.org.

California's data by school will be posted on the California Department of Education's website when the data become available.