Wake County student assignment will be the topic of a panel discussion Thursday night at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Tim Simmons of the Wake Education Partnership, Terry Stoops of the John Locke Foundation and "parent activist" Neil Riemann will be the panelists. Brenda Berg, a member of the Great Schools in Wake Coalition, will be the moderator.

"Come to hear from expert panelists who will explore the complexities of school board politics and the topic of busing for diversity as they apply to this current and local issue," according to this flier for the event.

The forum starts at 6:30 p.m. in Gardner Hall, Room 105 at UNC-Chapel Hill. It's sponsored by the UNC chapter of Students for Education Reform and the Roosevelt Institute Education Center.

Wake County school board chairman Ron Margiotta and Susan Evans are both pulling in substantial amounts of cash in the District 8 race, including money from the Popes, Bob Luddy and the Campbells.

The new campaign report filed today by Margiotta shows he had raised $40,367.33 as of Aug. 30 with $34,111.23 on hand. The new report for Evans shows she had raised $26,406.43 as of Aug. 30 with $21,405.30 on hand.

The biggest donors for Margiotta in his new report are the $4,000 apiece from conservative businessman Art Pope, his wife Katherine Pope and conservative businessman Bob Luddy.

Supporters of the old diversity policy are giving plenty of cash to Wake County school board candidate Christine Kushner.

Kushner's latest campaign report filed this week shows she's raised $12,061.24 so far in her bid to win the District 6 seat. Many of the donors should be familiar as they've spoken out at school board meetings and other forums against the change in student assignment.

Donors include former school board member Beverley Clark, former school board candidate Lois Nixon, Wake County PTA Council President Diane Dulaney, Amy Womble, Adrienne Lumpkin, Brenda Berg, Swain Wood, Anne Cooper and Colethia Evans.

Scandinavian Child is going global.

The Raleigh-based company, which distributes European high chairs, strollers, diaper bags and other products in the United States and Canada, will announce this morning that it has bought a Swedish furniture company.

The purchase of Svan AB will allow Scandinavian Child to distribute in Europe, Asia and Latin America, said founder and CEO Brenda Berg. It also gives Scandinavian Child the ability to expand into manufacturing and new product development.

The company's business model has been based on distributing other companies' products, including Svan's high chairs. Berg expects that within three years, more than half of the business will come from manufacturing and selling its own products.

"The margins are bigger, control is greater and expansion opportunities are better," Berg said. 

Civil conversation seems to be running in short supply when it comes to Wake County school issues.

As noted in today's article, you've got remarks flying on both sides about animals and the Mafia. It will likely rev up even more after today's press conference by the Rev. William Barber, president of the state NAACP.

“I think that everybody's irritated,” said Brenda Berg of the Great Schools in Wake Coalition. “I feel like they should be selling popcorn and cotton candy at these things. I went to the circus last week and it wasn't nearly as wild as the board meetings.”