Manny pictured it in his mind. He would go to Harvard Law School and graduate with highest honors. He would come back home and run for office: mayor, state representative, governor, and finally, president of the United States. He could see himself doing important things in politics, helping people in significant ways. He would fight poverty, repair bridges and highways, clamp down on crime, and negotiate peace in different parts of the world. When he saw these things happen in his mind, a great big smile of contentment and pleasure emerged on his face.

Miss Stevenson, his fifth grade teacher, was not so amused that Manny was daydreaming again. The spell was broken when she called on him to answer the math question she had on the board. Before he became president, Manny would have to get t…