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 Superintendent Tony Tata announced today that he will hold a series of meetings with business and municipal leaders to discuss the recently approved $130.3 million school facilities plan.

The first meeting will be at 2 p.m. Thursday at Apex Town Hall with Apex Mayor Keith Weatherly and Holly Springs Mayor Dick Sears. It's open to the public.

The next event will be Sept. 30 at the Wake County Chambers of Commerce Leadership Meeting. No word yet on whether that meeting is open to the public.

Future meetings are being scheduled.

Wake County school board member Carolyn Morrison says she's not endorsing school board chairman Ron Margiotta in his re-election bid even though she appeared at his campaign kickoff event.

Morrison said she attended Margiotta's July 18 event as a sign of respect to the board's longest serving member. She said he respected how he persevered as a member of the board's minority for several years.

But Morrison said she's not planning on endorsing Margiotta, his District 8 opponent Susan Evans or any other candidate in this fall's races. She said she might change her mind if there are run-off contests.

Is the rest of the nation watching this fall's Wake County school board elections?

As noted in today's article, that's an assertion made by state Rep. Paul Stam, the House Majority Leader, in explaining why he's endorsing school board chairman Ron Margiotta in his re-election bid in District 8.

"I support Ron Margiotta because this election represents a national litmus test in education reform," Stam said in an invitation to a July 14 fundraiser for Margiotta. "From the New York Times to the Washington Post, the Wake County School board elections will be analyzed on a national scale."

Wake County mayors are bailing out of Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker's proposed committee of lawyers and educators that would review Wake County's developing student assignment plan.

As noted in today's article by Sadia Latifi and Ray Martin, at least three Wake mayors have changed their minds about joining and several more are on the fence. Meeker has only gotten assurances of three of the county's other 11 mayors that they'll stay on the committee.

“After having learned more about it, it’s clear that it’s not going to be a community-based group that’s going to look at the plan,” Apex Mayor Keith Weatherly said. “[To evaluate the plan] is the responsibility of the duly elected Wake County Board of Education.”

Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker is trying to enlist other Wake County mayors as part of his ongoing efforts to put the student assignment process under the microscope.

As noted in today's online article by Sadia Latifi and Ray Martin, Meeker has been contacting other mayors to form a committee to review whether the new plan that's being developed "“complies with state statutory and constitutional standards." This special committee would consist of mayors and "high level" residents of each town who have educational or legal experience.

“Our goal is to get an objective group, to get good advice and see if it’s a good plan or bad plan that needs some changes,” said Meeker, a sharp critic of the new board majority and husband of school board minority member Anne McLaurin.

Don’t look for all of Wake County’s mayors to stand behind changing the way school board members are elected.

The Wake County Mayors Association had been working on a resolution calling for changes in how county commissioners and school board members are elected. But Holly Springs Mayor Dick Sears said they dropped it this month after they couldn’t unanimously agree on the specific changes they wanted to recommend.

They had been wrestling with whether to call for at-large school board elections, reducing the number of seats and changing when the elections are held.

You guys may not all want to rush over to tonight's meeting at Holly Springs Town Hall.

As noted previously, representatives from several opposition groups will meet at 6 p.m. to see if they can work together to change the school system. It just might not be possible to accommodate all the people who want to attend.