Herbert's new education panel missing diversity

OGDEN — Seventh-grader Qwayvon Atkinson doesn't particularly notice that his technology class includes mostly minority kids such as himself — plus a couple of white students.

"My teacher treats everyone the same. No one is different," says Qwayvon, who is half African-American, one quarter Samoan and one quarter white.

His attention on Monday was focused on his autobiographical PowerPoint project. He listed his goals: "Get a master's degree" and "Join the NFL."

While race isn't a big issue for the 13-year-old, his classroom reflects the high percentage of minority students in Mound Fort Junior High, as well as in Ogden School District, which is 54 percent minority.

Despite the fact the minority student population is growing statewide, Gov. Gary Herbert's freshly formed, 25-person "Education Excellence Commission" has no ethnic minority representation.

"If there is no minority voice, then where is their perspective?" asks Charlene Lui, who is a native Hawaiian and works at Granite School District as director of educational equity.

Lui said she would love to be a member of the governor's commission. "I would do it in a heartbeat, if they asked me," she said. Lui represented the Coalition of Minorities Advisory Committee on the State Board of Education for two years while she served as its chairwoman.

Herbert told the Deseret News Monday the commission is "an evolutionary process," and it's not out of the question to have a minority representative.

"Everybody is important. We want to make sure everyone feels included," Herbert said. "You just can't get everybody around the table. But if we need to make some adjustments, I think that's something the commission will look at."

However, the governor also said he wants to keep the commission a workable size. Further, he said, commission member Pam Perlich, University of Utah senior research economist, brings minority data to the table.

Perlich is scheduled to present such data at the commission meeting at 9 a.m. Wednesday in the Capitol Board Room.

Perlich told the Deseret News Monday that, while she does supply demographic data, she is a white, middle-class baby boomer who grew up in Oklahoma and has lived in Utah since 1986.

"I'm not able to represent all those different points of views," she said. "I haven't walked in those people's shoes."