Wake County Schools Chief Academic Officer Donna Hargens is sticking by her position that decisions about using diversity in student assignment are a school board issue.

As noted in an article that will appear in Thursday's Louisville Courier-Journal, Hargens said that decisions about using a diversity-based assignment policy are “public value choices” best left to “the board's governance role.” It's the same stance she took as Wake's interim superintendent.

“She's like Switzerland — she's neutral,” said former Wake County PTA Council President Liza Weidle in the article. “But she's had an incredible impact.”

UPDATE

The Courier-Journal is reporting online today that the Louisville chapter of the NAACP is calling on the Jefferson County school board to reopen the superintendent search. The NAACP says they're not satisfied with the responses from both finalists about desegregation issues.

You should probably get to know the name of Eli Broad because he could have a major impact on the Wake County school system in the next few years.

As noted in today's article, one obvious factor is that Wake Superintendent Tony Tata graduated from the Broad Superintendents Academy. Another factor is that Tata hopes to use his contacts from the academy to draw in millions of dollars from philanthropists like Broad, Bill Gates and the Walton family.

One of the things Tata said he was surprised to learn when he started in Wake was that the school system wasn't heavily involved in raising money from the private sector.