As expected, the new Republican majority on the Wake County Board of Commissioners voted 4-3 this evening to rescind the resolution expressing concern about resegregation of the school system.

Paul Coble, newly elected chairman of the board of commissioners, said it was time to remove the "political hammer" that was used by the prior Democratic majority to go after the school board for eliminating the diversity policy.

Coble said that commissioners should have run for the school board if they had wanted to get into student assignment.

UPDATE

By a 4-3 vote, commissioners approved adding lifting or eliminating the cap on charter schools to the board's statewide legislative goals. It was a straight party-line vote after Norwalk unsuccessfully added an amendment saying charter schools should reflect the diversity of the community.

Click here for today's article of the meeting by Thomas Goldsmith.

Supporters of the old diversity policy are ramping up the message of "wait 'til next year" in the aftermath of last week's GOP election victory on the Wake County Board of Commissioners.

As noted in Thursday's American Independent article by Ned Barnett, diversity policy supporters say last week's election results shouldn't be seen as a referendum supporting community schools. Instead, they're pointing to the 2011 Wake County school board elections as the true test of public sentiment.

“I don’t think the voters went to the polls and voted the way they did because of what was going on with the school board,” said Karen Rindge, executive director of WakeUP Wake County, the parent group of the Great Schools in Wake Coalition. “But I think we’re going to see a change next year. That’s when we’re really going to see if the public agrees with this board of education.”

UPDATE

In today's article in the American Independent, newly elected Wake County Commissioner Phil Matthews is calling last week's election results a mandate for neighborhood schools.

Republican members of the Wake County school board are aglow about the GOP gaining a majority on the board of commissioners,

As noted in today's article, those school board members say the anticipate better relations with a Republican majority than a Democratic one on the commissioners. GOP school board members had been diplomatically saying before the election it didn't matter which party was in the majority on the board of commissioners.

"We have things we need to get done," said school board chairman Ron Margiotta. "We'll have a better chance of getting it done with people who are willing to listen to us instead of trying to punish us."

Capitol Broadcasting CEO Jim Goodmon decided to financially back all four Democratic candidates for Wake County commissioner after all.

A last-minute report for Commissioner Lindy Brown shows that she got $1,000 from Goodmon. It's one of the 48-hour campaign reporting notices that candidates submit if they get at least $1,000 from a donor between the period of the last pre-election report and Election Day.

Previously, Brown had been the only Democrat who hadn't gotten money from Goodmon.

Wake CARES has announced that it's endorsing the four Republican candidates for Wake County Board of Commissioners.

The group notes that in 2006 it had endorsed Republicans Joe Bryan, Paul Coble and Tony Gurley and Democrat Lindy Brown. But WAke CARES says only the three Republicans kept their promises on mandatory year-round schools.

"Unfortunately, Brown quickly broke with her campaign promise to support families who could not make the mandatory year round calendar work," Wake CARES says in explaining why they're endorsing Republican Phil Matthews.

All of the final pre-election campaign finance reports are in now and they show that the four Republican candidates for Wake County commissioner have raised more than their Democratic opponents.

Republicans got $48,000 from Art Pope and his family and $31,000 from political action committees for realtors and homebuilders. They also got thousands of dollars from individuals involved in both fields.

Democrats got $13,000 from Jim Goodmon and his wife. Democrats didn't get anywhere close to the Republicans in terms of PAC money. But they did a lot  of individual smaller donations from people who've opposed the school board's elimination of the diversity policy.

The Wake County Republican Party has got a new campaign jingle that could have ramifications on funding for the school system.

In this radio ad for the four GOP candidates for county commissioner, the phrase "Gurley, Coble, Bryan, Matthews, they’re the ones who won’t raise taxes" is repeated several times.

"If you want the conservatives, who’ll keep spending down and won’t raise taxes, that would be Tony Gurley, Paul Coble, Joe Bryan and Phil Matthews," according to the radio spot.

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 Independent is calling this year's Wake County Board of Commissioners elections "a referendum on the policies of the Wake school board and its majority of five Republican members."

In this week's issue, the Independent is endorsing all four Democratic candidates for commissioner after having endorsed two of the Republicans in 2006. The liberal weekly says "the (school board) majority is out of control" and that it's the job of the commissioners to reign them in.

"True, the commissioners can't and shouldn't micromanage the school board," the Independent writes. "However, when five members of the school board are acting recklessly while simultaneously shutting out public debate and input from anyone not a card-carrying member of the Republican right wing — including the four other school board members — the commissioners have a duty to step in."

Supporters of the old diversity policy are holding a pair of forums next week for candidates for the Wake County Board of Commissioners.

Schools will be among the topics at Monday’s forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Wake County and WakeUP Wake County. Other topics will include water supply, public transit, revenue and growth.

The forum will run from 7 to 9 p.m. at Temple Beth Or, 5315 Creedmoor Rd. in North Raleigh. The N.C. Center for Voter Education will air it live online at www.voterradio.com and also for replay as a podcast.