The firing of Wake County Schools Superintendent Tony Tata got some air time at the end of the latest edition of NC SPIN that aired over the weekend.

On the show, pundits from the left and right agreed that it was not a politically good decision for the Democratic school board majority to have fired Tata at this time. Panelists also talked about whether the next permanent superintended should be a lifelong educator.

Tom Campbell, the show host, opened the segment by saying that following Wake County schools has been like "watching a yo-yo." Campbell asked John Hood, president of the conservative John Locke Foundation, what he thought of Tata's firing, which he said "was ugly" and "many say it wasn't handled well."

Wake County Schools Superintendent Tony Tata is talking about why he felt the need to cut clerical, custodial and Central Office positions in this year's budget.

Tata was interviewed by Chris Fitzsimon, executive director of the liberal N.C. Policy Watch, for Sunday's broadcast of "News and Views." According to N.C. Policy Watch's Progressive Pulse blog, Tata talked about the hard budget issues faced this year and what's coming next year when state and federal funding gets reduced again.

In a preview clip, Tata says he realized how hard it would be on schools to each lose a clerical position.

Chris Fitzsimon's latest attack on the Wake County school board majority focuses on complaints about the new community assignment zones being drawn up.

In a column today, Fitzsimon, executive director of the liberal N.C. Policy Watch, points to a North Raleigh grandfather who was quoted in Monday's N&O about people not wanting students being brought in who might be perceived "to be lesser into my school."

Fitzsimon writes that the "the lessers will be concentrated in their own schools if (school board member John) Tedesco and Margiotta get their way." Fitzsimon goes on to note how Margiotta has said he'd support breaking Wake up into smaller districts.

Critics of the Wake County school board majority were repeatedly hitting on the charge this week that conservative businessmen Art Pope and Bob Luddy are directing the action from behind the scenes.

In a blog post Thursday, Rob Schofield of the liberal N.C. Policy Watch penned his song about the school board majority based on Tennessee Ernie Ford's "Sixteen Tons." He closed out his version with "they owe their souls to Luddy and Pope."

Robert Grant started an online petition this week that, among other things, arguess the Wake Schools Community Alliance and Wake CARES "are not the so-called 'parents' advocacy groups' they claim to be, but rather right-wing astroturf organizations funded by Art Pope that do NOT reflect the beliefs of the majority of parents in Wake County."

Here are some assorted issues raised in the NC SPIN show on Wake County's school diversity fight.

Was the socioeconomic diversity unpopular with the public, as maintained by John Hood, president of the conservative John Locke Foundation? He pointed to the higher turnout at last fall's elections and the unfavorable poll results from the Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling and the conservative-leaning Civitas Institute.

"The policy that the Wake County school board adopted a decade ago has never been popular," Hood said. "It has always been unpopular."

Wake County school board member John Tedesco and the Rev. William Barber, president of the state NAACP, are going to get more television time to debate diversity in the state's largest school district.

NC SPIN announced today that Barber and Tedesco will appear on a special edition of the show that will be broadcast Aug. 15. In addition to Barber and Tedesco, regular panelists John Hood and Chris Fitzsimon will also be on the show that will be moderated by Tom Campbell.

State Schools Superintendent June Atkinson is raising her concerns about the Wake County school board majority dropping the socioeconomic diversity.

Atkinson was interviewed by Chris Fitzsimon, executive director of the liberal N.C. Policy Watch, for this weekend's broadcast of "News and Views." According to N.C. Policy Watch's Progressive Pulse blog, Atkinson says it’s essential students experience diversity for themselves, rather than learning to base their opinions on what they see on television.

Chris Fitzsimon is warning that the "resegregation of the schools begins" now that the Wake County school board majority has removed diversity from the student assignment policy.

In a column Thursday, Fitzsimon, executive director of the liberal N.C. Policy Watch, said Tuesday's vote marked the end of the first stage of the board majority's "right-wing" ideological crusade. He said the vote was "the final indication that the members of the Gang of Five are listening more to the anti-public school ideologues who fund them than the community they are supposed to represent.'

"Let's hope the efforts to resist it [resegregation of the schools] are redoubled before permanent damage to students, schools, and the community is done," Fitzsimon writes.

This e-mail message definitely was never meant to be read by any members of the Wake County school board majority.

Jeff Shaw, director of communications for the N.C. Justice Center, sent out an e-mail message today to the attorneys in the school board lawsuit detailing the media strategy going forward. He's coordinating the PR efforts for the plaintiffs who sued the school board over alleged violations of the state's Open Public Meetings Law.

The problem is when Shaw hit reply all, the message was sent to all the school board members, including the members of the majority. Shaw said he hadn't realized that the board members were part of the chain for that message.

SEE UPDATE AT END OF POST

Confirming his status as the Wake County school board member that liberals most dislike, John Tedesco is the subject of a column today by Chris Fitzsimon

In today's column, Fitzsimon, executive director of the liberal N.C. Policy Watch, focuses on what he considers to be Tedesco's inconsistency. Fitzsimon contrasts Tedesco's fiery speech against social engineering at the April 15 Tea Party rally with his willingness to work with critics and consider use of economic diversity in student assignment.

"The last ten days have brought us Tea Party Tedesco, Tempered Tedesco, and tough to follow Tedesco," Fitzsimon writes. "That ought to be enough to put the brakes on the push by the Gang of Five to dismantle the current assignment system. You shouldn't change direction if you don't know where you want to go."