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"Too many times in Micah Young's life, the school day ended and he wondered where he'd sleep that night. His mom died when he was 6. After that, he bounced between relatives' homes. Or he crashed on friends' sofas. He even slept outside his middle school."

"Forty-six Monte Vista Elementary Students in Montclair received backpacks as part of the Hope Through Housing Foundation's After School and Beyond program. The program provides children from low-income families the school supplies they need to succeed."

"The differences in scores across the state are influenced by a number of factors, including poverty rates, said Jamal Abedi, a UC Davis professor and education expert. He said the increase in scores statewide is 'good news,' especially considering the large number of English language learners in California."

"'One of the primary goals of this program is to eliminate the stigma that students feel when they get a free lunch, as opposed to paying cash,' said Mark Schrupp, the district's chief operating officer. 'Some students would skip important meals to avoid being identified as low-income.'"

"Over the last four years, the total of Reseda students who score at grade level or better in English rose from 39% to 47%; the percentage actually dipped slightly this year. In math over that period, the figure rose from 18% to 22%. About two-thirds of the school's students are low income and 18% are learning English."

"The 10-year-old federal law tracks the progress of entire student bodies and also how well individual schools and districts teach various subgroups of students, including those living in poverty, minority groups, and limited language and special education students."

"The AYP measurement takes into account subgroups, such as special education, low-income students and minorities, but performance in one area can make or break whether a school makes the mark."

"Federal law specifies how the discount, or rebate, is calculated under Medicaid, the program for low-income people. The minimum rebate for a brand-name drug was increased last year to 23 percent of the average price that manufacturers receive for sales of the product to retail pharmacies."

"The economic slowdown has hurt the ability of middle-income Californians to pay for long-term care insurance or save for their own needs. At the same time, the sluggish economy has led the state to roll back programs that help low-income people live as independently as possible."

"Yet, as in years past, the achievement gap put a damper on the good news, with scores of English learners as well as African American, Latino and students from low-income families lagging well behind their peers."

"So far that turnaround has been questionable. Last week Marshall and Mead were back on a list of high-poverty schools identified as 'on improvement' by the state because they have not met test targets for two years in a row."

A new survey by the SCAN Foundation and the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, however, finds that Californians are woefully underprepared for the cost of such services. The survey is a wake-up call to the public, as well as a warning sign to lawmakers who want to pull the plug preemptively on a new federal insurance program for long-term care.