I'm back

So I know it's been awhile since my last blog--you know me I tend to procrastinate like that--so I thought what the heck I better blog so why not tonight...so here we go!

So many of  read March's budget summary and we failed to stay in our budget. I don't want to repeat everything Tim said, but I think it's important to voice my feelings on it as well--and it may be repetitive--but hey I feel like it's worth repeating! 

So my first reaction was one of disappointment and irritation. We tried so hard to stay on track--yes we went to a wedding--but still that's not a big deal--we still could have stayed in budget. Then I looked at where we went over and it was gas and miscellaneous items(and a side note is that miscellaneous was over because we stopped to eat a few times on our trip.) So what's my point you may be asking--I mean after all we did go over.....

Here is my point, as Tim said, it's the spirit of our project that is important. I'm not saying we aren't going to try like hell to stay as close as possible to our budget--but here is the thing I'm not going to drive myself crazy and not go to a friend's wedding, not buy a b-day present for a friend, etc because I'm stressing about our budget. My point is this we have given up a lot--we moved from a 2 bedroom to a 1 bedroom--I can't remember the last time I bought clothes, etc...so to me it's more important to give up as much as possible--but it's also important to still live and not end up hating ourselves because we went over budget!  But as I said before we are still going to try our hardest to try to stay on budget and give up as much as possible! 

Until next time.....as always.....peace be with you!

~Alicia~ 

March Summary

We didn't quite stick to our budget for March. We didn't blow it completely either though. We had friends get married in California and wouldn't have missed their wedding for anything, so we spent more on gas than we normally would have during the month. We still managed to only spend about $130 more than our poverty level budget (almost all of which was fuel). We also went about $37 over on our groceries- mostly due to the fact that we didn't make a menu and plan our shopping very well.

I was extremely frustrated with our performance, but after talking through things with my psychologist, I think we've come to understand that the spirit of the exercise of living in poverty is what we're really trying to experience. We also realized that we are challenging ourselves and didn't take a vow or oath, so the obligation is to try to live up to the challenge. That being said, we are still living in the spirit of the exercise by not dining out as frequently as we did in 2012, not shopping, and only focusing on our basic needs not wants.

I think the most important part of the challenge is learning to focus on our basic needs. It's the self-denial and discipline of living well below our means that is important. The goal is to raise awareness about the issues of poverty, and I think one of the issues we became aware of last month is the tension between wanting to do something and not having the funds to do it. For a lot of people, using a credit card or payday loan to obtain these things is the easiest way to go about it. If you're short $200 for the month, you can finance that on credit or a short term loan and pay it off over time. Unfortunately this strategy is what perpetuates the poverty cycle- debts pile up and income levels don't rise enough to pay them. It becomes necessary to take on new debt to pay off old debt or just go into default on the debt altogether.

Month:
March		Budget	Actual	Difference
1st-14th
Income:		$630.42	$630.42	$0.00
Expenses:
	Rent	$511.00	$511.95	-$0.95
	Gas (Auto)	$40.00	$128.75	-$88.75
	Sprint	$165.00	$159.78	$5.22
	Progressive	$80.00	$80.17	-$0.17
	Hulu	$7.99	$7.99	$0.00
	Misc.	$50.00	$27.29	$22.71
	Total	$853.99	$915.93	$61.94
	Difference	-$223.57	-$285.51	$61.94
15th-31st
Income:		$630.42	$630.42	$0.00
Expenses:
	Electric	$90.00	$68.63	$21.37
	Gas (Auto)	$40.00	$73.75	-$33.75
	Car Payment	$189.00	$185.86	$3.14
	Internet	$55.00	$55.99	-$0.99
	Misc.	$25.00	$92.17	-$67.17
	Total	$399.00	$476.40	-$77.40
	Difference	$231.42	$154.02	$216.40
	Income:	$1,260.84	$1,260.84	$0.00
Monthly Total:	Expenses:	$1,252.99	$1,392.33	-$139.34
	Difference:	$7.85	-$131.49	-$139.34

Unforeseen Circumstances:

Back in 2012 when we came up with this plan, we were not prepared to receive extremely bad news regarding my dad's health. He has been diagnosed with FTD, a rare and terminal disease. In light of that diagnosis, we have planned a trip in the summer to be able to spend time with our family. We feel that being able to have some quality time with family is more important in the long term than the monetary savings of "sticking to the plan."

Sorry, I Can't Serve You...

Today is Holy Thursday, the beginning of our Paschal Triduum. Over the next three days, we recall the mysteries of our Faith- Christ's institution of the Eucharist and priesthood on Holy Thursday; His Passion and death on Good Friday; and His Triumphant Resurrection on Holy Saturday night/Sunday morning. It's my favorite part of the Church year because we relive the moments that led to the creation of our religion.

I'm also a huge fan of Holy Thursday because it's the night when priests have the opportunity to wash the feet of 12 parishioners as an imitation of what Christ did on this night some 2,000 years ago. Even the Pope washes feet on Holy Thursday. Of course, in years past our popes have washed the feet of 12 men of the Diocese of Rome (or 12 cardinals, priests, deacons...). This year, Pope Francis has decided to continue his pre-papal custom of washing the feet of the poor, lowly, sick, and imprisoned- you know the people Jesus mentions we serve Him in Matt. 25:31-46. Naturally, this ruffled a lot of feathers around the world. Some people were upset that he wasn't celebrating the Mass in St. Peter's or St. John Lateran. Others were upset that the Pope was going to wash the feet of prisoners. A few were even pissed off because - GASP - he would be washing the feet of two girls. AND if that weren't bad enough, some of the 12 people whose feet Pope Francis washed might not have been Catholic!!!!

When I saw this tweet by James Martin, SJ, I laughed a lot:

Before Mass tonight, as I was praying and contemplating what Holy Thursday means, I looked up at the front of our church at the stained glass windows of the Apostles (the 11 Faithful Apostles and Paul), and I couldn't help but think of a series of funny things I would like to tweet regarding Pope Francis breaking "canon law" to wash women's feet. For the record, I looked into it and couldn't really find which canon he actually violated, but there is a consensus that liturgical laws were "violated."

On the way home from Adoration, I thought about tweeting all of the funny one-liners and then I thought a blog would be a better forum. Here I don't have a character limit and I can put everything in context so nothing gets misconstrued. But what's the tie-in to poverty?! So glad you asked! I think the heart of the matter of what Jesus did on Holy Thursday and what Pope Francis did this year is service of those we may not deem "worthy" of serving. I think if Pope Francis washed the feet of 12 "super pious and holy cardinals" no one would have cared at all. It probably would have been expected. Jesus was (is) the Son of God- the disciples should have lined up to wash His feet; but Jesus set the example of humility- He washed the feet of sinful men. Point is- it's easy to wash the feet of someone who is "equal" in power and rank, but how many of us would balk at washing the feet of someone who is way lower than us? That's exactly what Jesus did- washed the feet of those way lower than Himself. That's exactly what Pope Francis did- washed the feet of those way lower than himself. The model of humility is what Christ commanded the Apostles to "also do" (cf. Jn. 13:15).

To put it another way, Jesus didn't say, "sorry, I can't serve you. You're too poor/hungry/thirsty/sick/imprisoned/naked for me. Oh, and you're not part of my religion so that's a strike also. You're a woman, sorry, I only came to serve men." Jesus actually finished the lesson by saying, "no slave is greater than his master..." (Jn. 13:16). If we think that we can make determinations on whose feet are eligible to be washed, isn't that kind of us trying to be greater than the Master?! 

To digress in Catholic terms for a moment: Is the washing of feet a Sacrament? No, which means that ritual doesn't carry the same weight as the rite of Baptism or the Mass. I don't have a licentiate in Sacramental Theology, but I'm pretty sure that all that's necessary for the Sacraments is the proper matter and form. The rituals are subject to revision by the Holy See, and perhaps the hotly contested "Mandatum" ritual (foot washing) will finally be revised to demonstrate what Christ did when the Master and Teacher washed the feet of the students and then instructed them to wash one another's feet.

So, about those one-liners. I guess I would categorize all of these as "Jesus thought bubbles" as He was washing the disciples feet. Of course, they're all slanted through the prism of modern wash the feet of "12 preferably rich and powerful VIRI (which is Latin for MEN)" thought.

Here we go:

When washing Judas' feet: "this guy's gonna sell me out for 30 pieces of silver. I shouldn't wash his feet. Or maybe I should twist his ankle while I'm doing it so he can't make it to the betrayal!"

When washing Peter's feet: "dude wants a whole bath like some little baby who can't wash his own feet, hands, and head!"

When washing Peter's feet: "guess who's washing my feet after he denies me three times tonight?! I can't believe I'm stooping to this level!"

When washing the feet of James and John: "I can't decide who I want to sit at my right hand in the Kingdom of Heaven. I guess whoever's feet smell the least funky gets it. Oh, wait, that's not for me to decide. Sorry Dad, sometimes I get caught up in these petty little human arguments. Good thing my divinity keeps me in check!"

When washing Thomas' feet: "in three days this guy won't believe I'm back from the dead! I shouldn't wash his feet. I should question his faith first then wash them."

When washing Matthew's feet: "I shouldn't be washing his feet after that audit he pulled on me before I made him a disciple!"

When washing Judas' feet: "I wonder how much money he thinks I should sell this washbowl and pitcher set for in order to give it to the poor?* Maybe 30 pieces of silver?!" (*cf. John 12:4-5)

When washing Peter's feet: "I hope he doesn't fall into this bowl and almost drown!" (cf. Matt. 14)

"I came, I conquered sin, I washed men's feet"

Breaking it down

Warning: Yup we are back to warnings because trust me y'all need to be warned before you read this blog....so here it is--I may use some strongly worded language--I will try my best not to--but I make no guarantees that I won't! So if you are offended by strongly worded language you may want to skip this blog--I won't be offended.

Warning 2: Yeah there needs to be two warnings--this may be a little long and I may start to ramble--you know me I tend to ramble when I am passionate about something!! OK so here we go!

The month of March is almost over and to be honest I can't wait for the beginning of April to start. Why am I so excited about April starting you may be asking....well because looking at our grocery budget we have a little over $40 that has to last the rest of this month and Easter is coming.  So there is eight days left which means we can spend about $5 a day roughly--which will be stretching it with Easter coming. So I started to have another little mini breakdown because I am pretty sure what we are making for Easter will be a little bit more than $5--so what the hell do we do now is what I started to think to myself--how in the F did this happen? I was a little pissed at myself for letting it happen. 

So to answer the question how did this happen--it happened for several reasons. The first reason is we didn't make a menu for this month and therefore there would be nights that we would run over to the grocery store and buy something for dinner--which at the time didn't seem like a big deal--but all those little trips to the grocery store add up. 

Another reason for this happening is I didn't do my math when I was getting my groceries.  I mean granted math has never been my strength but usually I take a calculator  so I know about how much I spent--but I didn't do that this month because I thought it's only $4--so that isn't that much--but again all those little shopping trips add up. 

So needless to say I was a little frustrated and that got me to think, " Holy shit this is how people who live at the poverty line feel all the time!" Most people who live at the poverty line receive food stamps--but as I experienced -they have the tough decisions to make do you buy crap that is cheap or do you buy quality healthy food that adds up and you may find yourself running low at the end of the month. Tim and I have made the choice to live at the poverty line and feeling like you have nothing in the house to eat and funds are running low is extremely frustrating! So, I can't imagine how it feels for those families who have to make those decisions every month!! This is why Tim and I strongly believe in the mission of  E3 Community Development . This is an organization that wants to help educate, empower, and energize leaders and communities to help those in need. This organization will truly make a difference for those in need--plus the people involved are very passionate about educating and truly helping those in need and their communities!! 

In my opinion this is the part of the blog where I encourage you to get off your ass and do something to help those in need! If you can't donate money donate your time! You can also educate yourself about poverty and those living at the poverty line....but my point is this TAKE ACTION and DO SOMETHING!!!

OK so I didn't use too much strongly worded language  did I?! I did warn you about that though! I did however, ramble on and on--but I can't help it--ask Tim!! As always.....

Peace be with you all,
~Alicia~

Habemus Papam!

If we haven't made it too obvious in previous posts, we are devoutly Catholic. While I wasn't terribly shocked at the news of Benedict XVI's resignation, I was surprised at the timing. If anything I would have expected him to resign during Easter or Ordinary Time. While many people will debate his legacy, I think the more important thing to us as Catholics is that the Bishop of Rome, as successor of St. Peter is the visible sign of communion. Catholics all over the world are united as a family, and the Bishop of Rome is our "papa." 

Like any good family, we have our disagreements and arguments. We have "those" family members (you know, the ones you secretly wish weren't a part of the family). We have members of the family who wish the family was more "liberal" or more "conservative." We have rebellious members, fiercely loyal members, and everything in between. We have the arrogant members who seem to never admit wrongdoing. We have the humble members who don't seek praise. We have rich family members and poor family members. Just like most families, we still get together despite our differences and have "thanksgiving dinner." Eucharist is the sacrificial meal that brings us all together. Knowing that we are joined to each other all over the world by that sacrament, we are visibly united by the invisible grace we receive from the sacrament. We are in communion with our priests and bishop, who are in communion with the Bishop of Rome, and that global communion is a sign to the world of Christ's love. 

I think it is amazing that every major news outlet watched in wonder as 115 men processed into the Sistine Chapel to elect a new Bishop of Rome last week. What an awesome opportunity for us as Catholics to share with the world what we believe! It was even cooler to know that a camera was aimed at a chimney (with a guest seagull) for a day and a half. I was at work when the white smoke appeared, and our wifi is spotty, so when I tried to watch the announcement on my CNN mobile app, I heard, "Habemus Papam... Franciscum." The video never streamed, so I had to read a news story later to find out that Jorge Maria Cardinal Bergoglio, SJ of Buenos Aires, Argentina was our new Pope. As a big fan of the Jesuits and their spirituality, I was happy that one of them was elected to lead the Church. If you haven't heard, the Jesuits take the traditional vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, but also a special vow to serve the Pope wherever they are needed. Jesuits don't usually accept positions of authority in the Church, so to be a Jesuit and a Pope is a truly unique position.

What Does This Have to do With Poverty?

From the moment I heard the broken, "Franciscum," I knew immediately the new pontiff had chosen to identify with St. Francis of Assisi. I secretly wondered why he hadn't chosen "Ignatius" in honor of the founder of his order, but I knew the ultimate meaning behind "Francis." St. Francis was the man who rejected his family's wealth and lived a simple life. St. Francis was also a proponent of reform within the Church. Both of those things are very much needed right now. 

When I started to read about Pope Francis' life as Archbishop of Buenos Aires, I knew we would see a very different vision of what the hierarchy of the Church should be. This is a man who lived in a small apartment, cooked his own meals, and rode the bus. He visited the poor and ministered to them. Indeed, in the first week of his pontificate, Francis is putting his (lack of) "money where his mouth is." He is a man who will model the role of Christ, "to serve and not be served." In essence, Pope Francis is calling us as Christians to "be Christ" in the world around us. I love the story he told of choosing the name Francis:

During the election, I was seated next to the Archbishop Emeritus of São Paolo and Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for the Clergy, Cardinal Claudio Hummes: a good friend, a good friend! When things were looking dangerous, he encouraged me. And when the votes reached two thirds, there was the usual applause, because the Pope had been elected. And he gave me a hug and a kiss, and said: “Don't forget the poor!” And those words came to me: the poor, the poor. Then, right away, thinking of the poor, I thought of Francis of Assisi.

"Don't forget the poor!"

We live in a world that has become increasingly obsessed with wealth and celebrity. How many stories do we hear of people going "from rags to riches"? How many of those people remember where they came from? How many of us remember the poor? Here is the leader of a 1.2 billion member organization being reminded of his obligation to the poor. Here is the leader of a 1.2 billion member organization reminding the 1.2 billion of our obligation to the poor.

I think a big part of this living in poverty experience is understanding the poor. It would be easy to donate to charity and hope the problems of poverty cease, but to actually live life in their shoes gives us a deeper understanding of the situation. Next year, when we aren't living in poverty, we must still remember what it was like. We must continue to be compassionate toward the poor. We must continue to identify with them as Jesus did.

I pray that Pope Francis will help remind all of us that we are to take care of "the least of these" (cf. Matt. 25:40).

Anti-Poverty Contract for 2013

It's been awhile since my last blog so here we go.......

I was reading an article about how poverty affects education--you know me it's one of my favorite topics--ok let me reword that because it's not my favorite topic by any means--for those who know me you knew what I meant--but for those who do not know me well-- what I meant was fighting for those in poverty and children who live in poverty is a BIG cause of mine and I will speak and fight for them until I can't speak and fight anymore! OK so back to the article.....

So I was reading how poverty affects education and in this article they mentioned an anti-poverty contract and I of course had to click on the link and find out what this meant...boy am I glad that I clicked on it because this article is fabulous and eye opening! The author Greg Kaufmann is passionate about the subject of poverty and brings up some great points that all of us need to consider. I am going to blog about the main points that struck me...if you want to read the whole article--and you really should because it's great--here is the link to the full article:  http://www.thenation.com/blog/172287/week-poverty-antipoverty-contract-2013 

Point one: What can the anti-poverty movement do in politics?  

Kaufmann's point was many times people focus on the fact that there is lack of desire in political leadership to fight poverty when they should be asking what can we do to change this? Are we who know the facts when it comes to poverty making ourselves visible when the issue of poverty comes up in Congress? I think it's a valid point because so often there are people who say they want to fight and then they do nothing--so make yourself visible and stand up and fight for those less fortunate!!

Point two: Raise the minimum wage

I know this is an issue that many of us have heard about and most Americans believe that this should happen--but what I didn't realize is that the minimum wage has only been raised three times in the last 30 years!!! I had to read that statement several times and each time I found myself saying WTF?!! Hello that's awful because a lot has changed in 30 years!! Cost of living has gone up, inflation, etc. Another point that Kaufmann brought up was the fact that people who receives tips minimum wage is $2.13 and has been so since '91--due to this food industry servers in the US are being paid sub-poverty wages and are likely to need food stamps to survive.   I think it's awful that a waiter waitress are barely scrapping by and are working full time! Something needs to change and that's why I think it's important to stand up for legislation like The Fair Minimum Wage Act! 

Point three: Affordable childcare for Working Families

This is a topic that is close and dear to my heart.  In this article it talked about how full time childcare can range anywhere from $3,600 to $18,200 annually per child! WHAT?!!! If you are a family that is living in poverty you can't afford a cost like that--and even if you are middle class family that's stretching the budget a lot.  The teacher in me knows the value of a quality childcare facility and numerous studies prove that if your child has a quality education from the start that it will impact his/her education greatly--for the better! The article talks about how there is federal assistance for childcare for those who need it, but currently only 1 in 7 children who qualify for it are being reached. There are major reforms that need to be made for this type of assistance and if we would make this a priority we would see the rewards because as mentioned before research has shown the value in how much of a positive impact a quality early childcare program has on the child's future education. 

I think I'll end it here because this blog is getting a little long and I could ramble on and on about it--and Lord knows I have already rambled enough...but here is the main point y'all--let's stop just saying we want a fighting chance for those living in poverty and we want this and that to change--LET'S STAND UP AND ACTUALLY DO SOMETHING Y'ALL!! Make your voice heard and do your homework before you just assume that people are lazy, and just want to live off the government forever--in most cases this isn't the truth--in most cases you have people who are just trying to get by and it's about time that their voices are heard to!! 

As always feel free to share this blog and Peace be with you all,

~Alicia~ 

"Opinions" are like...

Granted, education is more Alicia's domain than mine, but if you spend as much time with her as I do, you start to feel more qualified to run the Department of Education than the person currently running it! I peruse the news headlines while waking up, and this article got me to wake up pretty fast! The headline did its job in hooking me:

The Depressing Data on Early Childhood Investment

The article is actually an interview with Jerome Kagan, a pioneer in developmental child psychology, according to the introduction. I googled him and found a succinct biography. Kagan believes in "nature" over "nurture"- that genetics are a greater determinant of behavior than upbringing. I would argue that it's "both/and", but since I'm not a parent or clinical psychologist, what do I know?

The interview begins with the premise of trying to shed light on the income inequality gap [side note: watch this video]

The wealth inequality and "achievement gap" are related, according to Kagan. I agree that there is some degree of relationship between income and "achievement" but I would disagree that financial background determines achievement. This country has a long history of people growing up in poverty and becoming extremely successful in business and life. This country also has a history of people who are very wealthy ending up broke in business and life.

The first answer of the interview really pissed me off:

Jerome Kagan: Yes, between the affluent and the bottom third of the population. Many people acknowledge that it has to do with the fact that poor, uneducated parents don't realize the importance of reading to your child, talking to your child, taking your child to the zoo. It's not that they dislike it; they don't realize it's important.

First of all, he is making the assumption that "poor" and "uneducated" are linked. As Alicia pointed out in her last post, they aren't! Second of all, Kagan is basically asserting that poor people don't understand the importance of reading, talking, and going to the zoo. So rich parents totally understand the importance of reading, talking, and going to the zoo? Is that why they buy their kids video games, tablets, and toys? I think Kagan probably hasn't spent a lot of time around people in poverty to understand why they might have a hard time fitting reading to their children between working two or three jobs to feed those children and keep a roof over their head.

I grew up poor and spent most of my summer days riding my bike or walking to the library in the morning, checking out two or three books, reading them all day and then taking them back for more in the afternoon. I read all the Hardy Boys books; I read Dumas and Hugo; I read history books- anything that seemed interesting to me. My parents tried to take time to talk to us every evening. At the very least they would ask us about our day in school and how we were doing with homework. We didn't go to the zoo that much though. I guess my parents didn't realize how important that would be to my development! Damn them for depriving me of spending endless summer days gazing at hippopotamuses (shouldn't it be hippopotami?)! If only mom and dad had allowed me to stare at monkeys in cages! My educational and economic growth are forever stunted because I didn't get enough zoo time in with mom and dad!

I'm guessing what Kagan didn't look at when he made the zoo claim is a map! You don't have to be a world-class sociologist to know there aren't zoos in most impoverished parts of the country. There are about 350 zoos in America. That's approximately 1 zoo for every 896,897 Americans. The average ticket price for zoos is purported to be: between $10-20 for adults and $5-15 for children. So, for a family of four, a trip to the zoo could cost anywhere between $30 and $70. Not including transportation costs, parking, concessions (because who leaves the zoo without a pennant?!), and food (because watching lions eat makes me hungry!). On a monthly budget of $1859 (poverty line for 4 people is $22,314), making a choice between paying rent and utilities or taking the kids to the zoo seems to be a no-brainer!

If I had a chance to speak with Kagan, I would want to tell him that "poor, uneducated" people realize the importance of reading and talking to their children, but working multiple jobs in order to provide for their children takes away from their ability to read and talk with them.

Most of the interview questions focus on the topic of genetics and intelligence and their relationship to wealth. According to Kagan:

Jerome Kagan: Well, no one has found a gene for IQ.

Give them time, Jerome! Genetic predisposition doesn't necessarily guarantee success, and he does acknowledge that:

Genes do make a contribution to the IQ score -- but a flower needs soil. The environment for poor people is so overwhelmingly powerful, it washes out the genetic effect. There is a genetic contribution to IQ, but you can't detect it when you're living in a deprived environment.

WOW! "You can't detect it [IQ] when you're living in a deprived environment." What an elitist idea! Is he honestly positing that poor people are so overwhelmed by poverty they can't detect their intelligence?! I guess I didn't grow up poor after all then- because I've always known my capacity for intelligence and possess a love for education and learning. Maybe my genetics were stronger than my economic situation? Or maybe my poor parents understood that education was a way to advance beyond the cycle of poverty?

Perhaps the most positive statement Kagan made in the whole interview was:

We know that poor people are not genetically defective.

Thank God! If poor people were genetically defective they wouldn't be able to mow the rich man's lawn or collect trash. What kind of world would we live in then?

Maybe we should conduct an experiment in the "nature" vs. "nurture" arena and in the "rich schools" vs. "poor schools" arena. We take poor kids and bus them to rich schools and bus rich kids to poor schools. That should help us figure out if teachers are to blame- the current assumptions are that teachers in poor schools aren't as good as teachers in rich schools (and we have the standardized test scores to prove it). If the "bad" teachers in poor schools can't successfully educate the genetically superior rich kids, we know the teachers are at fault, because clearly genetics is the key to intelligence and wealth. To further the experiment, we trade kids from a poor family and a wealthy family- at birth of course- so we can examine whether the genetics are altered by the environment or whether they stay the same. A final phase in the experiment could be swapping neighborhoods and economic situations- the rich live in the impoverished part of town on a poverty level budget; while the poor move to the rich section of town and live on that income level. The kids go to school in the respective zone and we see who ends up "achieving" more.

Or, we could stop making wealth the "standard" by which everyone is measured. We could also quit making "standardized" tests that are only "standard" to the middle class urban and suburbanites. I bet if we gave the poor bilingual immigrant children Alicia teaches a fighting chance they'd be better off in the developing global economy than the rich monolingual children across town. Who's more intelligent: the five year old who speaks English and Spanish but has a hard time differentiating "before" from "in front of" [I've seen the assessments Alicia has to do]; or the five year old who only speaks English, knows all of their colors, shapes, and letters, and knows the difference between "on top of" and "above"? Could it be that both are intelligent and both offer different but valuable contributions to society?! I guess it depends on their socio-economic status and their test scores.