Wake County school board candidate Jim Martin has a more than 4-to-1 fundraising edge over Cynthia Matson in the District 5 race.

According to Martin's latest campaign report posted today, he's raised $26,688.18 as of Aug. 30 and has $23,623.61 on hand. Matson''s latest report showed she had raised $6,027.10 as of Aug. 30 with $3,112.20 on hand.

The biggest donor in Martin's new report is Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker, who has contributed $1,100. Meeker's wife, Wake school board member Anne McLaurin, has donated $600. He also got $500 from Ron McFarlane, the husband of Raleigh mayoral candidate Nancy McFarlane.

SEE UPDATE AT END OF POST

The first of the 35-day pre-election campaign finance reports is now in and  it looks like Wake County school board candidate Cynthia Matson is still far behind Jim Martin financially in District 5.

The new report from Matson shows that she had raised $6,027.10 as of Aug. 30 with $3,112.20 on hand. Martin's 35-day report isn't in yet but he had already raised $11,245.21 as of June 30 with $10,967.56 at hand.

It's likely that Martin's new report will show an even wider funding disparity between him and Matson.

Wake NCAE, which represents 5,000 Wake County's school employees, is citing school funding in announcing its reasons for its school board candidate endorsements.

In a press release today, Wake NCAE announced it was endorsing Kevin Hill in District 3, Keith Sutton in District 4, Jim Martin in District 5, Christine Kushner in District 6 and Susan Evans in District 8.

In the release, Wake NCAE faulted the current school board majority for not having backed a motion to ask county commissioners for enough funding "that could have prevented" cuts this year such as laying off custodians and cutting pay for teacher assistants.

Both political parties have now officially weighed in with their endorsements for this fall's Wake County school board and municipal elections.

As expected, the Wake County Democratic Party announced Tuesday that it was endorsing Kevin Hill in District 3, Keith Sutton in District 4, Jim Martin in District 5, Christine Kushner in District 6 and Susan Evans in District 8.

In the announcement, the Democrats accused the Republican school board majority of having "made a number of empty promises to voters (in 2009) that they have not met."

Middle school math placement, the Khan Academy and a policy on equity will be discussed at today's meeting of the Wake County school board's economically disadvantaged student performance task force.

School board vice chairman John Tedesco, chair of the task force, said staff will provide a detailed report on 2011-12 middle school math placement efforts. There was skepticism that some schools weren't being as diligent as others at using the new EVAAS-based criteria to place more students in advanced math classes.

Tedesco said they'll also watch a video from the non-profit Khan Academy, which has more than 2,000 videos available on YouTube. The videos cover a variety of topics to teach people math and other concepts.

UPDATE

Click here to view the handouts from the meeting.

The latest round of campaign finance reports show that Wake County school board chairman Ron Margiotta and school board hopeful Jim Martin are off to a good financial start.

According to a report filed July 15, Margiotta reported having raised $8,985 in his bid to win re-election in District 8. His biggest donor at $4,000 was Dr. James Fulghum III, a member of the John Locke Foundation board of directors and a frequent contributor to Republican causes.

Margiotta's next largest donors were retired CPA Harry Eberly at $1,745 and lobbyist/former state GOP House member Connie Wilson at $500.

SEE UPDATE AT END OF POST FOR INFO ON JIM MARTIN'S DONORS

Wake County school board members Keith Sutton, Kevin Hill and challenger Susan Evans were among the first to file today for office.

None of the three names were surprises as they had announced their plans to run ahead of time.  Hill is running for re-election District 3. Sutton is aiming to win the District 4 seat he was appointed to in 2009. Evans is running in District 8.

The filing period for school board candidates runs until noon on Aug. 12.

UPDATE

Click here for Morgan's application from 2009.

Christine Kushner filed today to run for the District 6 seat.

School board chairman Ron Margiotta filed today for re-election in District 8.

Cynthia Matson filed today for District 5, becoming the eighth and last school board candidate of the day.

Here's a blast from the past today with Cynthia Matson's announcement that she will run for the District 5 seat on the Wake County school board.

For you newcomers, Matson founded Assignment By Choice, the grand daddy for groups like Wake CARES and the Wake Schools Community Alliance. During the middle part of the last decade, ABC criticized Wake's assignment policy and the use of mandatory year-round schools.

"ABC was the original catalyst for the school reform movement in Wake County which united parents and increased public awareness on issues facing our school system," Matson says in her campaign announcement.

SEE UPDATE AT END OF POST

Bob Geary is heartened by the announcement today that Susan Evans will contest Ron Margiotta for the District 8 seat on the Wake County school board.

In a blog post today for the liberal Independent weekly, Geary writes that "Evans' announcement fills a hole for Wake County residents who think the Republican school board majority, led by Margiotta, has harmed rather than helped a very school system since four GOP-backed candidates swept into office following the 2009 elections."

"Margiotta was and continues to be an outspoken proponent of neighborhood schools — for the middle-class neighborhoods of Apex and western Wake County especially," Geary writes. "The fact that poor neighborhoods in East Raleigh and eastern Wake County would be left holding the bag with their "neighborhood schools" has not seemed to concern Margiotta all that much."

Jim Martin officially announced today that he will seek the District 5 seat on the Wake County school board.

Martin has been vocal over the past year in criticizing the elimination of the diversity policy and accusing the school board of engaging in racial discrimination. But the N.C. State chemistry professor and parent of two magnet students, including one at Enloe High, doesn't bring up the diversity issue in his press release.

Instead, Martin lays out goals such as not being politically partisan, pushing for a comprehensive education, lobbying for more school funding and reducing bureaucracy on teachers.