The Great Schools in Wake Coalition is mobilizing to get the new Wake County student assignment plan to include the diversity-related assignments.

In an email message dated Sept. 12, GSIW chairwoman Yevonne Brannon tells people that her discussions with school board members was "not encouraging." Brannon writes about a "board member who wants what we want but is too weak to push for it and too afraid to step up to the plate, because he is worried about community push back."

Brannon writes that "another board member who doesn’t seem to 'agree' about how to fix diversity-how to have balanced schools.....he seems to believe kids can choose out. After some discussion he agreed to 'think it over.'"

A new video from a liberal group is accusing the conservative Koch brothers of having bought the Wake County school board elections in 2009 in an attempt to resegregate the school system.

The 11-minute video, released today by Brave New Films founded by Robert Greenwald, is part of a series of films attacking the Koch brothers. For this film, a variety of local supporters of the old diversity policy go on to blame the Koch brothers for the 2009 election results and ignore the notion that there was any large grassroots support for the changes.

"In 2009, the Koch brothers tried the destroy the Wake County Public School system," says a blurb flashed on the screen.

SEE UPDATE AT END OF POST FOR RESPONSE FROM DALLAS WOODHOUSE AND FOR A LINK FOR AN INTERVIEW ROBERT GREENWALD GAVE TO MSNBC ON MONDAY ABOUT THE FILM

Businessmen Art Pope and Jim Goodmon are out in the financial forefront when it comes to backing candidates for Wake County Board of Commissioners.

As noted in today's article, the latest round of campaign reports show that  Pope and his family have given at least $32,000 to Republican candidates for commissioner. Campaign reports also show that Goodmon and his wife have given at least $13,000 to Democratic candidates for commissioner.

“It’s a contributor referendum on the school board,” said Democratic candidate Jack Nichols.

The money was flying in last fall's historic Wake County school board elections.

As noted in today's article, campaign finance reports showed that more than $340,000 in hard and soft money was spent during the school board campaign. Conservative businessmen Bob Luddy and Art Pope were easily the biggest contributors, providing $38,000 that either went directly to candidates or to the Wake County Republican Party's campaign efforts.

Critics of the new board are saying it confirms their fears that those who are hostile to public education are behind the new board majority. Luddy said it's "laughable" to say he's directing the board while Pope said it's ridiculous for the other side to make him a "right wing boogeyman."

Some school board candidates definitely want it known that they're getting money from the N.C. Association of Educators.

The NCAE's PAC has given $2,000 apiece to Rita Rakestraw, Horace Tart, Karen Simon and Lois Nixon, But the donations weren't listed on the original finance reports filed last week by Rakestraw and Simon.

Both Rakestraw and Simon say they mistakenly left out the the page in their respective reports that would have showed the NCAE donation. It definitely was an accident in Simon's case as she called after Friday's article about campaign donations to question why her NCAE contribution had been omitted.

The Coalition of Concerned Citizens for African American Children is formally making endorsements in Wake's school board races.

In a press release sent Sunday night, the CCCAAC said it was backing Rita Rakestraw, Horace Tart, Karen Simon and Lois Nixon because of their support for the diversity policy. The endorsements aren't a shock considering how the group's leader, Calla Wright, has warned that a victory by critics of the policy will lead to de-facto resegregation.

School board member Lori Millberg makes a direct pitch for for the candidates she's endorsing while taking a shot at others in a letter to the editor in today's newspaper.

In the letter, Millberg claims "much of the data published by some of the candidates" are "misinterpreted and in many cases are completely wrong." She argues that going to a system of neighborhood schools, such as in Charlotte-Mecklenburg, will be more expensive and less cost effective.

Millberg says that "to get the best value for your tax dollar, vote for Rita Rakestraw, Horace Tart, Karen Simon and Lois Nixon."

Millberg is echoing a position that's being repeatedly made, especially in the closing days of the campaign, that maintaining the diversity policy is cheaper financially.

School board candidates Rita Rakestraw, Karen Simon and Lois Nixon are getting a last-minute campaign boost from the Wake County Democratic Party.

In this mailer that should reach people's homes today, the Democratic Party is urging people to vote for the candidates it has endorsed in Tuesday's school board and municipal races.

"Will we continue to have diverse and economically balanced schools that have contributed so much to our community's economic and academic success?" says the mailer. "Or will we follow Charlotte and abandon diversity, spending tens of millions more tax dollars a year to prop up failing schools?"

Fifteen former Wake County school board members have signed a joint letter that supports the diversity policy and urges voters to pick school board candidates Lois Nixon, Rita Rakestraw, Karen Simon and Horace Tart.

In the letter, it argues that Wake has no "bad" schools and that the "opposite of diverse schools is unequal schools." It says that '"community schools' means that 'you' can't come into 'my' community.'"

The signers include recent former members such as Rosa Gill and Beverley Clark. But you also've got names such as Tom Oxholm, Carol Parker, Susan Parry, Wray Stephens and Judy Hoffman.

There wasn't much of a District 7 school board candidate debate on Monday's Bill LuMaye show on WPTF.

Only Deborah Prickett attended. LuMaye told listeners that Karen Simon declined to participate.

Click here to listen to Prickett's interview.

Thursday's four-way District 2 forum was a lot more heated. Click here and here to listen.