School board chairman Ron Margiotta is promoting how "a bi-partisan group of Wake County leaders are speaking out in support of (his) leadership of the Wake County Public School System."

In a press release today, Margiotta says the statements show that he "is being recognized and commended for his commitment to Wake County schools as well as his continued focus on raising achievement for each student." Some of the names are who'd you expect, such as Apex Mayor Keith Weatherly, Holly Springs Mayor Dick Sears, Garner Mayor Ronnie Williams, Rolesville Mayor Frank Eagles and County Commissioners, Joe Bryan, Paul Coble and Tony Gurley.

But would you expect a statement from Knightdale Mayor Russell Killen? Killen spoke at the Friends of Diversity press conference just before the 2009 school board elections. He's also a member of the same law firm as Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker.

“Chairman Margiotta has taken an active interest in Knightdale schools, and I appreciate all of the time and effort he has devoted to understanding and improving the schools in our area," Killen says in the press release.

Wake County school board candidate Jim Martin has a more than 4-to-1 fundraising edge over Cynthia Matson in the District 5 race.

According to Martin's latest campaign report posted today, he's raised $26,688.18 as of Aug. 30 and has $23,623.61 on hand. Matson''s latest report showed she had raised $6,027.10 as of Aug. 30 with $3,112.20 on hand.

The biggest donor in Martin's new report is Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker, who has contributed $1,100. Meeker's wife, Wake school board member Anne McLaurin, has donated $600. He also got $500 from Ron McFarlane, the husband of Raleigh mayoral candidate Nancy McFarlane.

SEE UPDATE AT END OF POST

Groups hoping to unseat the Republican majority on the Wake County school board appear to have a substantial early fundraising advantage.

As noted in today's article, the five Democratic school board candidates and the Wake Citizens for Good Government PAC have reported raising more than $85,000 so far. That doesn't include the donations that the Wake County Democratic Party plans to raise as part of its coordinated campaign.

The biggest donors so far are John and Ann Campbell, who've given at least $40,000. That's $32,000 to four school board candidates and $8,000 to Wake Citizens for Good Government.

Wake County school board member Kevin Hill and Raleigh City Councilman Russ Stephenson are joining forces tonight for a fundraising event.

The joint fundraiser will be held at 6 p.m. at Milton's Pizza & Pasta in North Raleigh. You can find more info here at the Wake County Democratic Party website.

Officially, both Hill and Stephenson are running in non-partisan races. But the reality is both the Democrats and Republicans will be just as actively involved in this fall's school board elections as they were in 2009.

CORRECTION

The info I received ahead of time was in error. It was only a fundraiser for Hill.

The next Raleigh mayor could continue to be a critic of the Wake County school board majority.

As noted in today's article by Matt Garfield, J.B. Buxton is weighing a run for Raleigh mayor in order to be a "forceful advocate for quality schools." Buxton is an education consultant who used to be deputy state schools superintendent and was Gov. Mike Easley's senior education advisor.

Buxton, who was at least in the past a Wake magnet parent, opposed ending the diversity policy. He expressed his views in this op-ed piece that ran in October.

It's official that there will be a new Wake County school board member this fall in District 5.

As noted in today's article by Thomas Goldsmith, school board member Anne McLaurin says she will not run for re-election. She said she felt comfortable leaving now because of the board’s increasing emphasis on student achievement, the development of potentially workable student assignment plans, and a recent decision to ask the state for additional funding.

“The board took a stand on requesting that the governor and the legislature increase the funding for education and that was not something the board agreed to do when we were talking to the county,” McLaurin said. “I think we are in a better place."

You can add Knightdale to the list of critics of the Wake County school board redistricting proposal.

As noted in today's article, Knightdale community leaders are lobbying the school board to change a proposal that would put the town into three different board districts. They're currently now in District 1 but the plan would send part of the town to Districts 2 and 4.

"The ability for us to have any influence on the board is certainly diluted," said Knightdale Mayor Russell Killen.

Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker announced today he's not running for re-election, but there's still no official word on the status of his wife, Wake County school board member Anne McLaurin.

McLaurin has publicly said she hasn't made up her mind about running for another term this year. McLaurin isn't at today's school board meeting because she's on jury duty, which also kept her from attending Meeker's announcement.

Regardless, it's less likely that there will be a repeat of 2007 when only one candidate ran in District 5. But, depending on the redistricting, this would still likely be an easier seat for the Democrats to retain than some of the others on the October ballot.

UPDATE

McLaurin was dismissed from jury duty today after she wasn't placed on a panel. She showed up later at the school board meeting and said she had not made up her mind yet about running for re-election.

Classify this as being either shameless or brilliant.

Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker and Durham Mayor Bill Bell put out a press release today seeking interview subjects for a writer working on a piece about the Triangle.

Writer Carsten Morgan is working on an "in-depth look at the Triangle" for Delta Air Lines in-flight magazine Sky.

The magazine is planning a 45-plus page feature on the Triangle for its July edition, which will be available on all Delta flights and in select bookstores in the U.S. and Canada.

"The mayors are asking Triangle residents to open their doors and appointment schedules to accommodate Carsten Morgan," says the release. 

"Don’t be shy; brag a bit, is the mayors’ implied message because potential visitors from across the globe will form a host of impressions and opinions from the piece."

The release even includes Morgan's email address and telephone.

Presumably, anyone with a sarcastic or snarky comment about the Triangle need not get in touch.

Gov. Bev Perdue and several other Democratic Party leaders are scheduled to attend a Thursday fundraiser in Raleigh for a group that's hoping to wrest control of the Wake County school board away from the Republican majority.

The stated goal of the fundraiser for the Wake Citizens for Good Government PAC is to benefit Wake school board candidates "who support high quality public schools for all children." The PAC was formed in 2009 and unsuccessfully ran a television attack ad against Republican-backed school board candidates.

The PAC was formed by Dean Debnam, president of the Democratic-leaning polling firm of Public Policy Polling. PPP has recently conducted surveys on Wake school issues for what the firm says is a private client.