SACRAMENTO — State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell issued the following statement regarding the release of the National Assessment of Adult Literacy by The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). The study found little change in adults' ability to read over the past decade.

"This federal report underscores the need to improve literacy skills of adults throughout the nation. In California we are fortunate to have an adult education system that has been in existence for 150 years providing classes in basic skills, such as reading, writing, math, and learning English as a second language.

"During the last year, adult schools in our state helped more than a million students, many of whom are the hardest to reach and most in need of adult basic education. As a part-time adult education teacher myself, I have seen the way adults flourish when given an opportunity to learn. Adult education offers them an opportunity for good-paying jobs, happier families, and improved futures.

"But, as this report points out, we need to expand learning opportunities for adults and engage more adults in lifelong learning. Every adult should be fully literate in reading, mathematics and English so that they can compete in the ever more competitive economy of the 21st century."

California's adult education system includes adult schools in more than 350 school districts with hundreds of sites, library literacy programs, community college non-credit courses, state and local jail and correctional facilities, and other state agencies. These programs help adults learn to read, earn their high school diploma or General Education Development test (GED), study English in classes practical and relevant to adult lives, and move toward high-wage professions by gaining marketable job skills.

According to the 2000 United States Census, almost one-quarter of California adults, 5 million people, did not complete high school, and almost half of those had no high school education whatsoever. Almost 10 million Californians came here from other countries, with one in four Californians born outside the United States.

The federal report, A First Look at the Literacy of America's Adults in the 21st Century, is available at New Report on Adult Literacy Levels, First Since 1992, Shows Need for High School Reform [http://www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2005/12/12152005.html] (Outside Source).