Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. today plans to announce a task force geared at addressing the achievement gaps Utah's minority communities face.

The task force is among topics to be discussed at the governor's first news conference geared specifically to minority issues, said Yvette Donosso Diaz, executive director of the Department of Community and Culture.

The goal: To create a united voice on educational issues and a blueprint of tangible solutions to close gaps in educational achievement.

"There is an achievement gap. We need to do something about it," Diaz said. "There are (Native American) reservations with 60 and 70 percent dropout rates. That's just heart-wrenching."

Huntsman's spokeswoman Tammy Kikuchi, said the task force is meant to address concerns raised by many in the minority community over HB1001, which passed earlier this month in a special legislative session and is scheduled to be signed by Huntsman next week.

HB1001 prioritizes Utah's system, U-PASS, over federal No Child Left Behind mandates, which require all students proficiently read and do math by 2014, regardless of race, income or disability.

Concerns had been raised that relying solely on U-PASS could widen the achievement gap because under some proposals, several minority student groups wouldn't be counted. The State Office of Education, however, has made assurances to the contrary.

Rep. David Litvack, D-Salt Lake, who proposed such a task force in this year's general legislative session, says it appears to be "a positive step forward."

Litvack, whose HB175 never made it to the floor, said he hopes the task force isn't merely "window dressing" but works toward real solutions, involves the community and has access to policymakers.

"I hope what was said on the House floor this last special session demonstrates a true, honest, sincere commitment to closing the achievement gap," Litvack said. "If it takes extra resources . . . I hope we'll move forward with a true effort to make that happen, including putting funding into it."

Diaz said the task force will include representatives from the governor's office, state Legislature, Ethnic Affairs Office, State Office of Education, Coalition of Minorities Advisory Committee to the State Board of Education, Utah Achievement Gap Coalition and representatives of the minority community with deep ties to education. It's important, she said, that the task force be open and available to the community.

"We might not see the fruits of the labor of the task force for decades," she said. "This is a very serious and complicated problem."

Diaz said about 30 minority media outlets — mostly Hispanic — have been invited to attend the news conference, which for now is scheduled to occur quarterly. It's a result, she said, of complaints that the minority media is often kept out of the loop on the governor's viewpoints. Huntsman has met one-on-one with many minority outlets.

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