The Wake Education Partnership is praising its "Cornerstone Investors," those who've pledged to give $10,000 or more to support the group's work.

In an e-mail message today, the WEP says they're renaming this group from "Major Donors" to "Cornerstone Investors" to have a more fitting title to honor this "distinguished group of supporters."

Many of the area's largest businesses are on the list of 22 cornerstone investors, including The News & Observer, Capitol Broadcasting Co., the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce, SAS and GlaxoSmithKline.

Is Wake County school board member Kevin Hill's proposed consensus-building approach to student assignment "gobbledygook" or an important step to coming up with a new plan?

As noted in today's article, board members couldn't agree Tuesday on whether to follow Hill's approach so they're going to address it again at next Tuesday's work session. There's still a wide split on the matter with board vice chairwoman Debra Goldman not coming down on either side of the proposal to indicate what might be the outcome.

During the talk, GOP school board members called Hill's proposal a stall tactic. After the work session, board member Chris Malone called it "gobbledygook."

The forum Thursday at Lacy Elementary School's PTA meeting produced more than a few highlights.

You had, as previously noted, school board members Ron Margiotta and Deborah Prickett objecting to the use of student achievement in the Alves plan. You had a somewhat modified version of the presentation on the Alves plan from what was given last week to the Garner Chamber of Commerce.

You had Dana Cope questioning Tim Simmons about the Alves plan and objecting to board member Carolyn Morrison's vote this year against returning the Lacy nodes from Stough Elementary.

Wake County school board members Ron Margiotta and Deborah Prickett both said tonight they oppose the use of student achievement as a factor in Michael Alves' controlled-choice student assignment plan.

Both board members were unexpected guests at tonight's Lacy Elementary School PTA forum on student assignment in which Wake Education Partnership Vice President Tim Simmons gave details on the plan that Alves is developing.

Margiotta, the board chairman, said he's willing to look at the Alves plan and that he likes how it's using proximity, stability and choice as guiding principles. But he equated the plan's use of student achievement as a "quota," similar to the use of socioeconomic diversity that the board dropped from the student assignment policy this year.

Republican members of the Wake County school board are calling the GOP sweep of the commissioners races a referendum showing support for pushing ahead with community schools.

As noted in today's article, GOP school board members say that people did respond to the calls from Democrats to turn it into a referendum on the school board's student assignment policy changes. The result, board members say, is a message that they've got the community's support for their actions.

“The people are saying, ‘Leave the school board alone; let them do what they were elected to do on student assignment,’” said school board member Chris Malone. “People want the school board to succeed and do their business.”

You would have been disappointed if you had gone to Wednesday night's forum hoping the candidates for the board of commissioners would talk about Wake County's student assignment fight.

As noted in today's article by Thomas Goldsmith, the Wake Schools Community Alliance stayed clear of student assignment questions at the forum the group sponsored. While discussing other school issues, candidates from both political parties blamed the other for the economic woes facing the nation and county.

Some differences emerged with Democrats Jack Nichols and Steve Rao both saying the county will have to consider impact fees or other means to meet school construction and renovation demands that could easily run to $2 billion in the next 20 years.

Wake CARES is going right after the Wake Education Partnership's pocketbook.

In a press release today, Wake CARES blasts the WEP for not supporting the new school boar majority's student assignment changes. Wake CARES says people should donate to groups such as Read and Feed and Communities in Schools of Wake County instead of to today's WEP's 24-hour online Money Drop fundraiser.

"Rather than support a group that is perpetuating a deceptive and controlling approach to education, we ask that you make a donation to a local organization that more clearly focuses on benefiting students’ educational needs," according to the Wake CARES press release.

UPDATE

The WEP ended up raising $8,931 from more than 90 contributors.

Is factoring student achievement into the mix for student assignment in Wake County another way by the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce and the Wake Education Partnership to at least partially maintain the old diversity policy?

As noted in today's article, there's a strong correlation with lower test scores, poverty and race. Balancing achievement levels in the new plan being developed by Michael Alves would likely result in zones that are more racially and socioeconomic ally diverse than those being considered by the school board.

Alves said Thursday it's his goal to make the new zones reflect the demographics of the county by using student achievement. For instance, he said he wouldn't put all of Southeast Raleigh in one zone.

The big news out of today's press conference is that the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce and the Wake Education Partnership are hiring Michael Alves to develop his own student assignment plan for Wake County.

Alves, the leading proponent for controlled choice, will develop a plan using most of the same criteria that the school board is using such as stability, choice and proximity. But they're asking him to also balance student achievement at schools as a fourth criteria for the new map.

"We believe this is important because a plan that balances student achievement makes it more likely that every school can attract and retain good principals and teachers," said Jim Beck, chairman of the Chamber's education committee.

The Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce and the Wake Education Partnership will speak out Thursday about the draft student assignment map being reviewed by the Wake County school board' student assignment committee.

In a press release this afternoon, both groups said they'd "address issues related to a proposed student assignment plan for Wake County's public schools." They say they're holding the media briefing in response to the student assignment committee's request for input on the map.

Considering how both groups aren't exactly fans of the elimination of the diversity policy, the tone could be less than positive Thursday. Don't be surprised if they note the sharp demographic differences among the 16 zones.