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One of the final requirements in the long road to becoming an American citizen (in addition to an application, an FBI background check, and a three-part English language exam) is passing a short civics test. Applicants are given 10 questions about American history and government (randomly selected from a batch of 100 questions that they are allowed to preview beforehand). The test is given orally, so unlike the quiz below, there is no multiple choice. To pass, applicants must answer at least six questions correctly. The questions in this quiz are adapted from the list of 100 possible questions that could be asked.

So … how would you do? Give it a shot!

On Monday, Americans commemorate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Most of us know at least a little something about the man: he was an African American civil rights leader; he gave the “I Have a Dream” speech; he was assassinated for his efforts … and we get a day off in his honor. For most American youth, though, knowledge about Dr. King — and understanding of civil rights history overall — doesn’t go too far beyond that. The National Assessment of Educational Progress, for instance, reported that only 2 percent of high school seniors could correctly answer a basic question about the Supreme Court’s landmark Brown v. Board of Education case.

A study by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC)  examined public K-12 education standards and curriculum requirements in every state in the nation, and found that 35 states – including California – failed to cover many of the core concepts and details about the Civil Rights Movement. 16 of these states (Iowa and New Hampshire included) didn’t require any instruction about the movement at all.

“For too many students, their civil rights education boils down to two people and four words: Rosa Parks, Dr. King and ‘I have a dream,’” said Maureen Costello, director of SPLC’s Teaching Tolerance program, which conducted the study.  “By having weak or non-existent standards for history, particularly for the Civil Rights Movement, (most states) are saying loud and clear that it isn’t something students need to learn.”

The study also found that much of what is taught about the movement in schools largely focuses on addressing the major leaders and events, but fails to address the systemic and often persistent issues like racism and economic injustice.

Throughout the country, Dr. King is honored as a national hero. Major city boulevards bear his name, and two years ago a memorial on the National Mall in Washington was unveiled. But if Dr. King’s teachings aren’t passed on to younger generations, the report notes, then all these tributes fall short of maintaining his legacy.

But take a quick look at the official 2012 platforms of the Democratic and Republican parties, and you’ll quickly some pretty extreme contrasts in philosophy on everything from taxes to abortion. In their national party platforms, the Democrats and Republicans have laid out a set of fundamentally different visions for America and the role its government should play in our lives.

On the show This American Life, host Ira Glass notes the widening chasm between the two parties:
“Everyone knows that politics is now so divided in our country that not only do the two sides disagree on the solutions to the country’s problems, they don’t even agree on what the problems are. It’s two versions of the world in collision.”

Even the frequency of key words used in the two documents is indicative of the parties’ very differing perspectives. Take the mention of “God” for example: In the Republican party platform it appears 10 times. In the Democratic platform: once (added in only after a lengthy debate). Likewise, the Constitution (or some variation thereof, like “constitutional”) is referenced 60 times in the Republican platform as compared to just six in the Democratic one.

Taken directly from the Republican and Democratic party Platforms, here are some of the widest divides on major issues that may impact you (click on the image link – above left – to download PDF).

Take the Procon.org party platform quiz to see which party you best fit into.

and the HUD-defined fair-market rate for a modest two-bedroom unit plus utilities is about $1,360 (compared to $960 nationally). The state has six of the top 10 most expensive home-buying markets in the country and five of the top 10 rental markets.

Why so pricey?

Much of it comes down to basic supply and demand: Despite its many economic and fiscal challenges, California remains a highly desirable location, and there are still lots of people and businesses willing to pay a premium to be here. And despite the high number of foreclosures in recent years, residential vacancy rates are among the lowest in the country. Meanwhile, a variety of factors restrict housing construction: strong land-use regulations and building codes on one hand and physical barriers like mountain ranges in Southern California and the Bay-Delta estuary in the North. The recession and collapse of the housing market led to a plunge in new residential projects. In 2009-10, the state recorded the lowest number of new housing permits since it began keeping records more than a half-century ago.

So we’re looking at a state where housing costs remain high, largely because new construction isn’t keeping up with demand. It’s also a place where unemployment is high and wages have not kept pace with housing costs. On top of all that, state and federal subsidies for affordable housing have suffered big cuts. The Golden State can be a tough place to keep your head above water.

And then there’s the Bay Area. . .

With nine counties, 101 cities, and more than 7 million residents spread over 7,000 square miles, the Bay Area is one of the most expensive places in the United States to rent or buy a home. As of October 2011, the Bay Area median home price was $350,000, down from a 2007 high of $665,000. The HUD-defined fair market rate for a modest two-bedroom apartment and utilities ranges from about $1,260 in the Vallejo-Fairfield area to about $1,830 in Marin, San Francisco, and San Mateo counties. According to an analysis from the National Low Income Housing Coalition, more than half of all Bay Area renters spend more than 30 percent of income on housing—the upper limit of what HUD considers affordable.

To an even more dramatic degree than the rest of California, housing demand in the Bay Area outstrips supply, and the availability of affordable housing has sunk to a record low. Only about 15 percent of all are households able to afford a median-priced home here. This disproportionately affects lower-income families, many of whom work in the central Bay Area but have been forced to as far away as the Central Valley to find housing they can afford. The migration to cheaper areas carries its own steep cost. In 2009, the Urban Land Institute reported that Bay Area households spent an average of about $13,400 a year on transportation.

What is affordable housing, anyway?

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development considers a home affordable if a household pays no more than 30 percent of its gross income on a mortgage or rent and utilities. So, if you live in a one-bedroom apartment and your rent and utilities come to $900 a month, you’d need to be making a monthly wage of at least $3,000, or a yearly salary of at least $36,000, for your unit to be considered affordable. For a $2,000 monthly mortgage or rental payment, your monthly income would need to be $6,660 or about $80,000 a year.

Developments specifically intended as affordable housing are usually formed through a public-private partnership and generally created by a nonprofit developer using a combination of private funding, government subsidies, and rental income.

What do local governments need to do about affordable housing?

California law requires every city and county to adopt a housing element as part of its general plan and revise it every five years. The law aims to ensure that local governments plan for the housing needs of everyone in the community, whatever their income, and requires them to adopt land-use and other regulations to “create opportunities for, and … not unduly constrain, housing development. Regional planning councils use state housing need estimates to assign housing unit goals or allocations to each city or unincorporated area in their area. Noncompliance and weak enforcement of the law have been an ongoing issue in many jurisdictions.

In the Bay Area, the regional council is the Association of Bay Area Governments. In 2007 it released a Regional Housing Needs Allocation and made projections through 2014 (the projections will be revised next year). In the Bay Area as a whole, the report anticipates the need to create 214,500 new housing units by 2014. Of those, nearly 49,000 should be for those with very low incomes (household incomes 50 percent or less than median income); about 35,000 for low income residents (between 50 percent and 80 percent of median income); roughly 41,000 for moderate-income residents (80 percent and 120 percent) and just over 89,000 for above-moderate income residents (more than 120 percent).

The deal with inclusionary housing

Certain city or county ordinances require that a specific portion of new housing construction be affordable to low and moderate incomes residents. Also called inclusionary zoning, the goal is to increase the supply and distribution of affordable housing by giving private market developers incentives that reduce their construction costs. More than 100 jurisdictions statewide have adopted inclusionary housing ordinances.

Some affordable Housing Resources

• California Department of Housing and Community Development’s list of affordable housing developments by county.
• Nonprofit Housing Association of Northern California
• California Housing Law Project
• National Law Center for Homelessness and Poverty
• California Reinvestment Coalition
• Housing California
• National Low Income Housing Coalition
• Affordable Housing Clearinghouse