Cash Michaels is using the AdvancED report to lash into the Republican majority on the Wake County school board as having no plan to help high-poverty schools that would result from ending the diversity policy.

In a blog post Thursday on the fifth part of his series in The Carolinian on the new Walnut Creek Elementary School, Michaels focuses on a section in the AdvancEd report that accused the board majority of having no plans to help high-poverty schools.

"When Board members were asked how they would ensure that schools with a significant population of low achieving students would be supported, there were no solutions or plans offered," according to the report. "High school principals noted deep concern that the new [neighborhood schools] policy would significantly compromise their ability to meet the needs of students.

The Wake County Democratic Party is looking ahead to this fall's school board elections while noting Wednesday's anniversary of the move away from the old diversity policy.

In a press release Wednesday, the Wake Democrats said that day was "the first anniversary of the Wake County School Board's historic vote to take this community down a path toward high poverty and high cost schools."  It was on March 23, 2010 that the school board majority passed the community-schools directive.

Much of the press release focuses on the release last week of the AdvancED report, which the Democrats say "validates" the critics of the GOP board majority. The release also notes how the school board has been panned by former President Bill Clinton, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan and television satirist Stephen Colbert.

I thought I'd wrap up the week with various perspectives from the right and left on the AdvancED accreditation report on the Wake County school system.

"The bottom-line is Wake County schools remain accredited, albeit with an 'accreditation warning” status,'" writes Bob Luebke in a Thursday blog post for the conservative Civitas Institute. "The allegations of those  who filed claims were insufficient to revoke that status. Hopefully this episode will conclude in November when AdvancED officials return to WCPSS and issue a report."

"Advance Ed issued its long-awaited report yesterday that focused on wholesale policy changes aimed at re-segregating Wake County Schools," writes Jim Horn in a Thursday post on Schools Matter. "The Tea Party's Gang of Five school board majority did not fare well in a report."

The Public School Forum of North Carolina is no fan of the new high school accreditation bill that's making its way through the General Assembly.

The bill would prohibit North Carolina-run universities, colleges and community colleges from using school accreditation to make admissions decisions unless applicants come from high schools accredited by a state agency. The bill is in direct response to the AdvancED accreditation investigations in Wake and Burke counties.

In this week's issue of the Friday Report, the Forum notes the introduction of the bill this week and the release of the AdvancED report on Wake County.

"It appears more likely that legislators representing the two counties share the views of some (not all) of their local school board members who resent 'outsiders' telling them how to run their business," according to the Friday Report. "In any event, the bill is introduced and could take two widely-viewed as dysfunctional school boards currently under fire by parents and high school students concerned about accreditation off the hook when it comes to accountability."

Mark Elgart, president of AdvancED, repeatedly defended today his organization's contention that the Wake County school board's actions have created "a climate of uncertainty, suspicion, and mistrust throughout the community."

In an interview today on the Rick and Donna Martinez Show on WPTF, Donna Martinez asked Elgart whether he was referring to the whole board in the group's accreditation report. Donna Martinez, a columnist for the conservative Carolina Journal, has been an outspoken supporter of the board majority.

"It is the board's responsibility," Elgart responded. "We don't, we would not segment it and say it's only certain members. But collectively they're governing the system right now so they're all responsible for creating that type of atmosphere. But they're also in a position to change that."

Look for the official state NAACP response today to the AdvancED report on the Wake County school system.

According to a media advisory, the state NAACP has scheduled an 11:30 a.m. press conference to "comment on AdvancED's 15-page analysis of the Margiotta Caucus and its actions." It's at their offices at 114 West Parrish Street in Durham.

As you guys doubtless know, the NAACP filed the complaints that led to both the AdvancED review and the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights investigation of Wake.

UPDATE

The NAACP is also, not surprisingly, opposing the state House bill that would provide an alternative to AdvancED for accreditation. Click here for the online story by Thomas Goldsmith in which NAACP attorney Al McSurely  accused "right-wing Republican know-nothings" of arguing that the state should create its own accreditation agency.

See end of post for NAACP press release on the report. The Rev. William Barber, president of the state NAACP, is calling praising the report and calling it "a sad confirmation of our position."

Is the new high school accreditation bill making its way through the General Assembly a possible escape route for the Wake County school system?

As noted in today's article, the bill would prohibit North Carolina-run universities, colleges and community colleges from using school accreditation to make admissions, scholarship and loan decisions unless applicants come from high schools accredited by a state agency. It also would require the state Board of Education to begin accrediting North Carolina public high schools at the request – and expense – of the school districts.

Not coincidentally, its sponsors include legislators from Wake and Burke counties, where the school districts are on AdvancED's radar.

How serious should the AdvancED report's findings against the Wake County school board be taken?

As noted in today's article, supporters of the board majority are downplaying the findings, focusing on how Wake is keeping its high school accreditation for now. Critics of the board majority are arguing that the report justifies the concerns they've raised over the past 15 months.

Mark Elgart, president of AdvancED, said parents don't have to worry right now because accreditation is safe through at least the 2011-12 school year. But he said the report raises serious concerns that Wake needs to address.

AdvancED has put Wake County's high schools on "accreditation warned" status, giving the district a year to address their concerns.

AdvancED says the school board majority members failed to meet the agency's accreditation standards. They cite examples about how policies have been adopted without review and without giving full information to all members.

"Since December 1, 2009 the actions and decisions of the Wake County Board of Education have resulted in creating a climate of uncertainty, suspicion, and mistrust throughout the community," according to the report.

Click here to read the report. Click here to read the letter to the district.

UPDATE/CORRECTION

The bill, introduced Monday, says that state-run institutions of higher learning could only consider accreditation from state agencies when using accreditation for admissions, scholarship and loan decisions. The bill also instructs the state Board of Education to begin accrediting high schools when requested by school districts, which would pay for the accreditation.

Click here to read the online story.

Mark Elgart, president of AdvancED, said Wake has a year to correct the issues cited in the report. He said the same review team that was here last month will return by Nov. 30 to monitor compliance.

Federal civil rights investigators will be in Raleigh on Thursday to interview the community members of the Wake County school board's disbanded student assignment committee.

From March 2010 to last month, the committee reviewed changes in the last two student assignment plans and worked on a plan to divide the county into 16 community zones. After the full board killed the zone plan and Superintendent Tony Tata said he wanted to lead the development of a new assignment plan, the committee was disbanded.

The committee had consisted of three school board members and nine community members.