Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue, a critic of the Republican majority on the Wake County school board, is hoping the recent election results will send a message to other North Carolina school districts.

In an exclusive interview with Cash Michaels following her Friday keynote speech at the state NAACP convention, Perdue said she's "very hopefully that this (election results) will mean a time out for any school system in North Carolina that wants to go backward on kids who are at risk."

"It's the wrong thing for this state," Perdue added. "We're better than that, Cash."

Acting and politics have collided for one Chapel Hill Town Council candidate.

Augustus Cho, who is running for one of four seats on the Town Council, missed a candidates forum Tuesday night because he is filming the new G.I. Joe movie in New Orleans.

Cho plays a Korean leader, in the film G.I. Joe: Retaliation, also starring Bruce Willis, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Channing Tatum. He had kept his acting career a secret before Tuesday. But when the forum and his filming conflicted, Cho said he had to tell people about the film.

The Rev. William Barber, president of the state NAACP, is cheering the outcome of the Wake County school board election results.

"While there is still some more voting to be done in the days to come, tonight we believe, marks a major step forward on the Highway of Justice and Love," Barber said in a statement released this morning. "Children of all colors, we pray, can once again feel welcome in their schools and at their School Board."

Barber said he hopes the election results "marks the beginning of a tune up on the Public Education engine, making sure that the new commitment to ending the school-to-prison pipeline remains strong and at the same time moving toward the Gold Standard Plan student assignment plan which will build upon the great and noted success of Wake County rather than destroy the progress we had made."

The most expensive campaign in Wake County school board history is leading  to a flurry of ads and charges.

As noted in today's article, reports on file show $385,909 has been raised so far by the candidates and other groups. But the number is actually far higher because many groups don't have to file yet or have only filed partial reports.

For instance, the $385,909 doesn't include the political parties and all the 501 groups and 527 groups. By the time all the numbers come in, the amount raised should easily exceed $500,000.

We're getting an idea about what Wake County school board chairman Ron Margiotta meant by "take the gloves off" in response to the attacks from the 527 groups.

In this new campaign mailer hitting mailboxes today, Margiotta asks "Why Does Rev. William Barber Want YOU to Vote for Susan Evans?" The answer on the other side of the mailer is "Because They Have the Same Agenda..."

The mailer has side-by-side pictures of Evans and Barber, president of the state NAACP.

Wake County school board candidate Venita Peyton seems to be making the Rev. William Barber as much of an issue as her District 4 opponent, Keith Sutton.

As noted in today's article by Thomas Goldsmith, Peyton's position against the old diversity policy puts her at odds against those like Barber, president of the state NAACP. Peyton has stood against much of the African American leadership in Southeast Raleigh for years.

“It gets painful being out there all by yourself,” Peyton said. “It’s hard saying, ‘Mr. Barber, you are wrong!’”

The Wake County school diversity fight got another dose of national media attention today in this article in The New Yorker looking at conservative businessman Art Pope's role in North Carolina politics.

Most of the lengthy magazine article by Jane Mayer deals with the charge that Pope has "taken control" of the state's politics. But toward the end of the article, it mentions that "Pope garnered national attention when North Carolina Democrats accused Pope of engineering, in 2009, the re-segregation of public schools in Wake County."

The article quotes the Rev. William Barber, president of the state NAACP, who says that "the first thing the school board did was start putting black children back into their so-called neighborhoods."

“No one that I know of wants to re-segregate the Wake County schools!" Pope responds in the article.

Wake County school board candidate Venita Peyton is accusing school board incumbent Keith Sutton of being "doubleminded."

In a press release today, Peyton questions Sutton on a variety of issues, such as how he attended the ribbon-cutting for Walnut Creek Elementary "while consistently voting against our parents who favor proximity." She also criticizes him for driving his daughter to school at the same time "he’s content with busing East and Southeast Raleigh children all over Wake County,"

Peyton also criticizes Sutton for voting against the new math placement policy and argues he really shouldn't say he lives in Southeast Raleigh.

Common Sense Matters and the N.C. Futures Action Fund have teamed up for another round of new fliers attacking Wake County school board chairman Ron Margiotta and candidate Heather Losurdo.

This new campaign mailer sent Wednesday says "there are $80 million reasons to reject Ron Margiotta's Tea Party agenda." They're focusing on how the U.S. Department of Education could as a last resort cut Wake's federal funding as a result of the civil rights complaint filed by the NAACP.

"If Wake County schools lose $80 million in funding, the impact would be devastating," according to the flier. "But Wake County School Board Chairman Ron Margiotta jeopardized $80 million in federal school funding."

This new campaign mailer, also sent Wednesday, says "on October 11, stop the Tea Party takeover of Wake County's Schools by stopping Heather Losurdo." Interestingly, Losurdo's flier doesn't mention Kevin Hill but Margiotta's flier does mention Susan Evans.

The Rev. William Barber is speaking out on the Wake County school board elections, but he doesn't want the media to hear what he'll be saying.

Barber, president of the state NAACP, has scheduled a "community mass meeting" for 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Martin Street Baptist Church, 1001 E. Martin St. in Raleigh. The meeting is not open to the media.

During the meeting, Barber will give a presentation. The audience will also hear from "political action experts." Topics include early voting, voter education and mobilization.