Vouchers Anyone?

Question: Since when are Puerto Ricans considered immigrants?

I was under the impression that we are American citizens, but a December 29 Wall Street Journal review of Herman Badillo's book called him an immigrant. "Why one Hispanic immigrant is being trashed for his blueprint for success," it read.

Mr. Badillo was the first Puerto Rican-born person elected to Congress, and he has a long, respected history of public service. Originally a liberal Democrat, he came to his senses and realized that the social programs he once supported had done more harm than good.

I have long decried the bilingualism in the public school system, a program for which Mr. Badillo was responsible. "When I supported it in Congress, the idea was to teach the kids to learn to speak English faster," he explained on the Fox News program "Your World With Neil Cavuto." "In fact, it has been distorted and now we have bilingual education, so-called, going on for two years, four years, six years, eight years."

Before I received a copy of Mr. Badillo's book "One Nation, One Standard," I was getting reports from the National Institute for Latino Policy about the Hispanic community's reaction to it. Most of the comments were negative, with people accusing Mr. Badillo of being a traitor to his community. The WSJ article compares what is happening to Mr. Badillo with the flak Bill Cosby still receives for lecturing the black community on the personal responsibility it bears for much of its ills.

I get these reports from the National Institute for Latino Policy because I am Hispanic and it is assumed that I am concerned about how politics affects my community. I am invited to galas honoring Democrats whom I blame for much of the stagnation in my community.

Mr. Badillo is never on these lists because he is now a Republican, and conservatives who share my values are never part of the Hispanic leadership. Just as Justice Thomas and Secretary of State Rice are "Uncle Tom" and "Aunt Jemima," conservative Hispanics who dare to demand community responsibility are branded "coconut" and "traitor."

Much of Mr. Badillo's book is misinterpreted and bruited about as an insult to Hispanic parents, who, he says, should get more involved with their children's education.

When Mr. Badillo appeared on CNN's "Paula Zahn Now," he was challenged by a panel member, Sandra Guzman of the New York Post. Ms. Guzman said he was generalizing and that to blame Hispanic parents for our children failing "is divisive and dangerous."

Why should urging parents to be more involved with their children's education be considered dangerous? Mr. Badillo's critics are alleging that the statistics he's citing, of a 50% dropout rate among Hispanic youth, are incorrect.

On this I have to agree. That rate doesn't take into account the high percentage of Hispanics who attend private school, where the dropout rate is negligible. Mr. Badillo seems reluctant to lay the blame on the schools, but that's exactly where he needs to put it.

In his memoir, he recalls not getting much encouragement about his education from his family. This made me think back to my early years. Neither of my parents attended high school, but I was sent to a free parochial school where discipline ensured my attention. One received an education through osmosis rather than free will; there was no such thing as a PTA.

When Mr. Badillo was in school, the New York public schools were just as proficient and adamant about the learning process. Our families had confidence that the schools would do their job.

That is no longer the case. The New York public school system operates on a $14 billion budget yet fails miserably and begs for more money.

The new teachers' contract the United Federation of Teachers just ratified sets a milestone of disparity between public and parochial teachers. The highest-level parochial school teachers are outpaid by the UFT's top-scale earners by a margin of two to one. Yet surprisingly, not many teachers are switching over. One teacher interviewed for the Staten Island Advance said she enjoyed fostering the spiritual growth of children without having to be politically correct.

A former vicar of education for the Archdiocese of New York, Monsignor Peter Bergin, explains why. "They want to teach in that kind of an atmosphere. There is a sacrifice, [but] a lot of people see it as a ministry."

If all New York City teachers felt the same, I assure you, Mr. Badillo, every community would benefit. Vouchers, anyone?