Cash Michaels is not a happy camper about Wake County's move toward a controlled-choice plan that stresses proximity.

In an analysis piece in the latest issue of The Carolinian, Michaels calls the new plan "the change that no one who embraced the heralded and productive socioeconomic student diversity policy ever wanted to see - Wake County Public Schools, moving as far away as possible from the old mission - making sure that no child was trapped in an unhealthy school."

Also in the piece, Michaels champions the call for Democrats to regain the school board majority, criticizes school board vice chairman John Tedesco for his new job at the N.C. Center for Education Reform and takes Superintendent Tony Tata to task for his letter to the state NAACP.

UPDATE

Click here to view Michaels' response to criticsm of his article.

It looks like the Rev. William Barber, president of the state NAACP, will agree to discuss issues such as minority teacher recruitment and community outreach when he meets with Wake County Superintendent Tony Tata.

In today's open letter, Barber accepted Tata's offer to meet with him. Barber adds that "we look forward to meeting with you and your team in private and continuing our dialogue around the questions we raised and the additional agenda items you provided."

Tata had put Barber on the defensive after the civil rights leader had written an open letter requesting a meeting to discuss student assignment. In his reply letter, Tata said he'd meet with Barber but wanted to expand the discussion to include issues such as whether the NAACP is helping to recruit minority teachers and principals and whether it's helping school districts do community outreach.

Initially, Barber had not wanted to discuss Tata's letter when confronted by a NBC 17 reporter at a Friday press conference.

Here's a quick recap of today's press conference with Wake County Superintendent Tony Tata.

The the deadline for the online simulation of the blue plan has been extended from Monday until next Friday. Tata said he's gotten 10,260 responses but wants 12,000. Outreach events will be held Sunday and Monday in Southeast Raleigh and Eastern Wake, where the response has been lower than the rest of the county.

Tata has agreed to a request from the Rev. William Barber, president of the state NAACP, to meet with him about the new student assignment plan. But Tata is challenging Barber to tell him what the NAACP has done to help Wake recruit more minority teachers and principals and what the civil rights group has done to help the district do community outreach with parents.

UPDATE

Click here to view the letter Tata sent today to Barber.

Tuesday's board meeting agenda has Tata recommending that the bell schedules be changed for the 2011-12 school year to add in 25 more hours of instruction while also seeking a state waiver not to add in the five days. The state budget called for schools to add both five days and 25 hours.

The state NAACP is questioning whether the blue and green plans will avoid resegregating Wake County schools or promote student achievement more than old diversity policy.

In an open letter released today to Superintendent Tony Tata, the Rev. William Barber, president of the state NAACP, says school leaders shouldn’t abandon the old efforts of trying to balance schools by family income levels. Barber also asks for a meeting with Tata before a possible school board vote on June 21 on which of the plans to use.

In the letter, Barber raises three questions:

UPDATE

Tata said at today's news conference that he hadn't yet had a chance to review Barber's letter or decide whether to arrange a meeting with the NAACP before next week's vote.

Wake County Schools Chief Academic Officer Donna Hargens is sticking by her position that decisions about using diversity in student assignment are a school board issue.

As noted in an article that will appear in Thursday's Louisville Courier-Journal, Hargens said that decisions about using a diversity-based assignment policy are “public value choices” best left to “the board's governance role.” It's the same stance she took as Wake's interim superintendent.

“She's like Switzerland — she's neutral,” said former Wake County PTA Council President Liza Weidle in the article. “But she's had an incredible impact.”

UPDATE

The Courier-Journal is reporting online today that the Louisville chapter of the NAACP is calling on the Jefferson County school board to reopen the superintendent search. The NAACP says they're not satisfied with the responses from both finalists about desegregation issues.

The state NAACP is urging the Wake County school board to reject the new redistricting maps, claiming "racial purposes" were present in the drawing of the boundary lines.

In a press release today, the Rev. William Barber, president of the state NAACP, rails against how "the re-segregationists present you with a set of maps" which "obliviously are designed to tighten their grip on our children's learning environments."

In case people didn't get the hint about the tone of the press release, Barber notes that today is the 57th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Ed decision.

This month marks the 50th anniversary of a landmark moment in this country's civil right era, the 1961 Freedom Rides, during which more than 400 Americans traveled through the South on buses to challenge Jim Crow laws.

"Freedom Riders" (UNC-TV, 9 tonight) recounts this story, powerfully, retracing each arduous, inspirational, painful ,and ultimately successful step  on a journey that tested the notion of non-violent activism.

The documentary isn't always easy to watch, mostly because those interviewed have such vivid memories of what they experienced, what they lived through. Thus, the hatred, the fear, the courage, the determination, the moments of clarity and triumph feel so present. That also makes it a must watch.

Here's more about what was said at last week's OCR meeting at Martin Street Baptist Church.

Click here for an earlier post about the meeting. Most of the speakers and the crowd were opposed to the school board majority's elimination of the diversity policy.

The meeting kicked off with the Rev. Earl Johnson, pastor of Martin Street Baptist, getting laughs and applause from the crowd when he quipped that the church was "a very neutral site by the way." That was in response to the complaints from the school system about holding the meeting at the church.

The state NAACP has just sent out a last-minute press release urging people to attend tonight's public meeting being held by federal civil rights investigators probing the Wake County school system.

In the press release, the Rev. William Barber, president of the state NAACP, says "this is an opportunity for OCR to hear directly from the community about the actions and statements of the right wing school board."

Here's the press release:

It's been expensive both in terms of monetary cost and staff time responding to the various NAACP-related complaints filed against the Wake County school system for ending the diversity policy.

Based on a handout shared at Tuesday's board work session, school administrators estimated that they've spent 807.7 hours in staff time dealing with the Open Meetings lawsuit, the AdvancED investigation and the federal civil rights investigation.

The majority of the time, 592.2 hours, was spent responding to the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights investigation.