Without a doubt, poverty has a negative influence on student achievement, especially when achievement is measured by state-mandated standardized tests. However, some bureaucrats, such as state commissioners of education and even state governors, continue to downplay the influence of poverty on student achievement. New Jersey's Governor Chris Christie recently pronounced that providing monetary aid to the state's struggling districts, the poorest communities in the state, is an "obscene waste of money" (Spoto 2012). Personally, the author finds such comments offensive and arrogant--as if scientific evidence has no place in education policy making. Clearly it does. Dismissing the issue of poverty in education ignores the long-standing and large scientific body of knowledge that demonstrates its impact (e.g., Coleman et al. 1966; Jencks et al. 1972). Poverty matters. There is too much evidence for bureaucrats to plead ignorance. It is time bureaucrats begin to address a root cause of underachievement: Poverty. It is time educators demand they do so.