John Hood is disputing that the Wake County school board redistricting bill is an attack by the Republican majority in the General Assembly against local representation.

In this column today in the Carolina Journal, Hood, president of the conservative John Locke Foundation, notes the bills that would transfer control of Charlotte-Douglas International Airport and Asheville's water systems to regional authorities.

Instead of being an attack on localities, Hood writes that both bills are the legislature's attempt to "intervene in disputes among several different, duly elected localities." He then ties that back into Senate Bill 325, which is supported by the the county commissioners but is opposed by the school board.

Wake County could be in line for a massive expansion in the number of charter schools.

In a blog post Tuesday, Terry Stoops, director of education studies for the the conservative John Locke Foundation, writes that 14 groups have filed letters of intent with the state Department of Public Instruction to open charter schools in Wake County for the 2014-15 school year.

The Wake contingent is among a group of 161 applicants who filed letters of intent. Stoops writes that 33 applicants are from Mecklenburg County.

UPDATE/CORRECTION

The state says there were 154 letters, not the 161 reported by Stoops. Click here to download a spreadsheet with all the applicants.

Donna Martinez is applauding Wake County school board member Deborah Prickett for the speech she made Tuesday night about the microphone-snatching incident with Susan Evans.

In a blog post today for the conservative John Locke Foundation, Martinez writes that "I’m glad Prickett will continue to speak out on behalf of Wake parents who want and expect a voice in their child’s education, rather than a system-focused mindset that now dominates the school board."

"What a shame for the children and families who will be trapped by closed minds and status-quo thinking," Martinez continues.

Martinez quotes from portions of Prickett's speech in which she charged that Evans' actions was an assault.

Bloggers for the conservative John Locke Foundation are criticizing Wake County school board member Susan Evans for yanking the microphone out of board member Deborah Prickett's hands last night.

In a post this morning on the Right Angles blog, Donna Martinez quips that Evans has replaced Debra Goldman as "the board member to watch." Martinez writes that "when Evans didn’t like what fellow board member Deborah Prickett had to say at the  public hearing about student assignment, Evans reacted like a 10-year-old who hadn’t gotten her way on the playground."

"Ah yes, the enlightened Left’s example is fascinating: When you don’t agree with someone, just shut them down," Martinez writes.

In a post this morning for The Locker Room blog, Terry Stoops headlines it "so much for open-mindedness, respect." Stoops contrasts Evans' actions Wednesday with an N&O editorial from September saying that Evans had pledged "to operate in an open-minded, respectful manner."

Terry Stoops is saying that his sources tell him that "former Wake County superintendent Tony Tata will not be appointed chairman of the State Board of Education."

It's part of a column today from Stoops, director of education studies for the conservative John Locke Foundation, in which he makes predictions about education changes to come in North Carolina now that Republicans hold the governor's mansion and the General Assembly.

Other predictions include expanding career and technical education, the director of the Division of Non-Public Education "is the most important education appointment that nobody is talking about" and "Pat McCrory will become a Jeb Bush/Bobby Jindal/Mitch Daniels-type education reformer."

The firing of Wake County Schools Superintendent Tony Tata got some air time at the end of the latest edition of NC SPIN that aired over the weekend.

On the show, pundits from the left and right agreed that it was not a politically good decision for the Democratic school board majority to have fired Tata at this time. Panelists also talked about whether the next permanent superintended should be a lifelong educator.

Tom Campbell, the show host, opened the segment by saying that following Wake County schools has been like "watching a yo-yo." Campbell asked John Hood, president of the conservative John Locke Foundation, what he thought of Tata's firing, which he said "was ugly" and "many say it wasn't handled well."

Terry Stoops is saying that nobody should be surprised that the Democratic majority on the Wake County school board fired Superintendent Tony Tata because, despite their protestations otherwise, they're politicians.

In his weekly CommenTerry out today, Stoops, director of education studies for the conservative John Locke Foundation, writes that "let's get it out of our heads that school boards magically transcend partisanship and politics just because there are children involved."

Stoops writes that it's natural for the board majority to want a superintendent who will carry out their plans. He writes that Tata was an "idealist" who refused the board majority's request "to assimilate for the sake of his job. and, more importantly their political future."

"In sum, the school board majority will choose a ho-hum left-leaning career school administrator in the familiar McNeil/Burns mold," Stoops writes.

Will Wake County's school bus problems spill over into this fall's race for North Carolina superintendent of public schools?

In a blog post Thursday, Terry Stoops of the conservative John Locke Foundation notes that State Schools Superintendent June Atkinson congratulated Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) for getting “100,000+” children “to school on time." Stoops says Atkinson did not congratulate any other school district for their successful transportation efforts at Thursday's State Board of Education meeting.

Atkinson, a Democrat, is running against Wake County school board member John Tedesco, a Republican. "Was Atkinson’s unusual remark an implicit criticism of Tedesco?" Stoops writes.

Wake hasn't done some of the things that Charlotte has done in recent years to cut costs. Charlotte reduced the number of bus stops by increasing the distance between them and requires magnet school students who live more than five miles from the school to take an express bus.

How is your bus service going on Friday compared to earlier in the week?

Wake County Superintendent Tony Tata said Tuesday that "most of the issues, I think, will improve each day and parents will see much shorter ride times and much more efficient bus service by the end of the week."

All this comes as school board chairman Kevin Hill has said the transportation problems will be discussed at Tuesday's board meeting.

Is it a conspiracy or coincidence that the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights is spending a lot of its time investigating various complaints filed against the Wake County school system?

As noted in today's article, OCR has used its discretion to launch investigations of three complaints against Wake in the past two years. The scope of the investigations means OCR is looking at how students are assigned, how they’re suspended, what athletics opportunities they’re provided and whether they’re getting important notices in Spanish.

Depending on your point of view, they're welcome probes or a case of the feds butting in too much into Wake County's business.