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."

Dan Coleman, president of the Raleigh-Wake Citizens Association, is getting fallout for his public criticism of the old Wake County socioeconomic diversity policy.

In a press release today, the Coalition of Concerned Citizens for African American Children accuses Coleman of making "uninformed and misleading statements" about the diversity policy's impact on student achievement. CCCAAC President Calla Wright is accusing Coleman, the head of a group that's represented Raleigh's African American community since 1932, of supporting resegregation that will harm student achievement.

"It is shocking that Dan Coleman is so out-of-touch with the thoughts and feelings of the African American community and the academic needs of our students,” Wright said in the press release.

Dan Coleman, president of the Raleigh-Wake Citizens Association, is speaking out against the old Wake County socioeconomic diversity policy.

As noted in today's article, Coleman's public criticism of the diversity policy is putting him at odds with the rest of the leadership of the local African American community. But Coleman said the test data shows that the diversity policy hasn't helped Southeast Raleigh students.

The passing rate on state reading exams for Southeast Raleigh students was 46.7 percent in elementary schools and 48.6 percent in middle schools. None of the other zones in the plan being considered by the board had passing rates below 60 percent.

The Wake County school board majority was essentially equated by diversity policy supporters to be demon possessed at this evening's prayer vigil at Pullen Memorial Baptist Church in Raleigh.

The Rev. Earl Johnson, pastor of Martin Street Baptist Church in Raleigh, asked the dozen clergy members in the audience to set aside one Sunday service in September for prayer. He urged them to pray for schools,  diversity in schools, student achievement and...

"Pray that this demonic presence that is trying to take over the school system will not prevail," Johnson said.

The Coalition of Concerned Citizens for African American Children is applauding the recognition that the Wake County school system and the old diversity policy received in GreatSchools' rankings of the top cities for public schools.

In a press release late Sunday, CCCAAC says the GreatSchools rankings "shows that Wake’s diversity policy provides equality and equity for all children while offering 'parent choice' in school selections."

"Now that the school board has abandoned the 'diversity policy,' will they adopt an assignment policy that separate students according to race and economics creating more high poverty schools?" the CCCAAC says in the press release.

With all that's going on in Wake County, it's no surprise that the latest test results have become caught up in the school diversity controversy.

As noted in today's article, critics of the board majority say this year's results show the socioeconomic diversity policy shouldn't have been scrapped. But critics of the diversity policy think it's a stretch to attribute the gains to the policy.

"While the new board majority speaks about the achievement gap, the problem was being addressed many years ago," said Calla Wright, president of the Coalition of Concerned Citizens for African American Children.

You wouldn't expect the dating history of a Wake County school board member to become an issue.

But as noted in today's article, critics of school board member John Tedesco are on his case for having mentioned that he's had black and Latino ex-girlfriends in the letter he wrote last week to the Rev. Nancy Petty.

Tedesco said he was only trying to show that he's lived an integrated life. But critics, such as Calla Wright, president of the Coalition of Concerned Citizens for African American Children, say the remarks were degrading to black and Hispanic women.

The Coalition of Concerned Citizens for African American Children is blasting the Wake County school board majority for possibly hiring a non-educator to be the next superintendent.

In a press release Thursday, CCCAAC says the preliminarily approved changes to the qualifications for superintendent is another sign that the board majority "continue to show their efforts to promote racial and economic divide among our community and students."

"Business leaders work to garner yearly profit versus an educator who works for dividends that occur at the end of the education cycle; graduation from high school," according to the press release.

The Coalition of Concerned Citizens for African American Children will discuss some hot button issues at an information session for the public on Saturday.

The CCCAAC will discuss the proposal from state House Democrats to establish the N.C. Commission on Diversity in Public Schools. The commission is being praised by critics of the Wake County school board majority's elimination of the diversity policy.

Another topic is the role of county commissioners in the school system. With four of the seven commissioners running for reelection this fall, it should be a heated political battle.

The Coalition of Concerned Citizens for African American Children and the local NAACP are again turning toward Mecklenburg County Commissioner Vilma Leake to warn against the end of the diversity policy in Wake County.

Leake, a former Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board member, will be the speaker at Thursday's "High Poverty Schools Impact on Our Children's Achievement" forum. The forum will run from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at Martin Street Baptist Church's Johnson Building, 1001 E. Martin Street in Raleigh.

"Commissioner Leake served on the Board of Education during the historic battle over the student assignment policy change that resulted in the resegregation of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools of today," says the flier  for the event.