Portrayal of state efforts to help minority students is sadly unfair

In his Dec. 18, 2006, column, "Create Culture of Expectations in Education," John Florez emphasized the importance of setting and cultivating high standards for students so that they will be prepared to succeed in both the workplace and higher education. This is a message we unequivocally endorse. Unfortunately, Mr. Florez has unfairly portrayed the efforts of Utah higher education leaders to help more minority students succeed as misguided and ineffective. While there still remains much work to be done, the Utah System of Higher Education has established a progressive and sensible agenda to increase minority success rates in college, which should, if properly supported, produce real results.

At its December meeting, the Board of Regents considered the priority recommendations from its Task Force on Minority and Disadvantaged Students. The task force has met several times over the past year to review current practices at Utah colleges, research and programs in other parts of the country, and feedback from minority leaders in higher education, public education and the community. The Regents did not, as Mr. Florez implies, approve a $1 million budget item to fund new senior level administrators to coordinate minority participation programs. They did take the task force's recommendation on this item under advisement, because, as Mr. Florez points out, it is critical for presidents (and their senior staff) to "walk the walk" and make leadership on minority issues a visible, and prominent, part of our institutions.

More importantly, the Regents did approve the task force's recommendation to immediately seek $3.4 million in new ongoing funds (a 40 percent increase) for student need-based financial aid. We agree with Mr. Florez that a major infusion of funding for student tuition assistance is a critical priority that deserves focused attention.

In addition, it is simply inaccurate for Mr. Florez to assert that higher education leaders are avoiding accountability through a partnership with public education. The Utah K-16 Alliance has been formed specifically for the purpose of increasing accountability and forging common ground between college and K-12 educators to raise student achievement, and this effort is already paying off.

In March 2006 the Alliance applied for, and received, a $300,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education to pilot the federal State Scholars Initiative, which is a program designed to encourage all students to take a rigorous high school curriculum. Furthermore, both the Alliance and the Task Force are working to promote Governor Huntsman's initiative for full-day kindergarten, a program that is proven by research to provide a solid academic foundation for disadvantaged students.