The Great Schools in Wake Coalition is mobilizing people to show up at Monday's Wake legislative delegation meeting to speak out against the bills that would change school ownership and school board elections.

"Both the Great Schools in Wake coalition and Friends of Dorothea Dix Park have issued alerts asking their members and supporters to show up en masse — and, for the Dix Park crowd, wearing green," writes Bob Geary in this blog post today the liberal Independent Weekly.

GSIW had already mobilized people last month in an unsuccessful bid to persuade the Wake County Board of Commissioners to withdraw their request for the legislation.

GSIW is backing the Wake County school board in opposing legislation that would take away its ownership of schools and change how and when board members are elected.

UPDATE

Due to the large crowd expected, the meeting has been moved to Room 643 of the Legislative Office Building, 300 N. Salisbury St., Raleigh.

See end of post for more info on Great Schools' action alert and an email from the Wake County Democratic Party also urging people to speak out Monday.

The eight applicants for the Wake County school board vacancy are giving their views on diversity, armed guards in schools, the choice plan, performance pay for teachers, the school construction bond issue and charter schools.

The answers are part of an article in this week's issue of the liberal Independent Weekly, which focused on their views on diversity and armed guards. The diversity responses run the gamut from support to opposition to its use in student assignment.

On one end are these people whose views on diversity seem to be the closest in line to the board majority.

Wake County school board member and state House candidate Chris Malone is drawing complaints from liberal groups for a robocall saying he wants "to get good kids out of failing schools."

In a blog post Wednesday for the liberal Independent Weekly, Will Huntsberry quotes Malone saying in the robocall that "I want to get good kids out of failing schools, so every single kid can have a great education." The post also has the full text of the robocall.

"Such logic seems flawed," Huntsberry writes. "If Malone pulls the 'good kids' — Does this mean white kids? Rich kids? Smart kids? — out of 'failing schools,' it’s unclear how the failing school will then be more likely to provide a 'great education.'"

For those of you who haven't read it yet, the latest issue of the liberal Independent Weekly has a not very flattering account of how some staff members say former Wake County Schools Superintendent Tony Tata berated and belittled them.

The article by Will Huntsberry quotes named and unnamed current and former Central Office staffers who accuse Tata of leading by using tactics of fear and intimidation. The article comes as members of the Democratic board majority have charged that Tata's relations with staff were one of the reasons they fired him.

One example in the Indy article is how former staffer Meredith Weinstein complained that she, a person with a Ph.D. was "told I'm not allowed to speak unless spoken to or interrupt him." She also charged that, rather than motivating them to do well, Tata essentially threatened them they could be replaced.

Liberals are continuing to criticize former Wake County Superintendent Tony Tata for taking his severance package after being fired by the school board.

In the new issue of the liberal Independent Weekly out today, there's an item saying "Tony Tata took my lunch money." The Indy says that Tata's $253,625 severance package would buy 126,812 full-price lunches for Wake elementary school students or 634,062 reduced-price lunches.

It's similar to the complaint made in a blog post last Wednesday by Rob Schofield of the liberal N.C. Policy Watch, who wrote it's not moral or right for Tata to take the money.

The cat will be out of the bag today, but was there a conspiratorial reason behind efforts by Wake County staff and the Republican school board members to get out the draft assignments now?

In a blog post Thursday, Bob Geary of the liberal Independent weekly writes that the changes that the Democratic board majority plan to make to the student assignment policy should drive the assignments and not the other way around. This means changes to the diversity component of the policy.

"The only reason for putting a list of assignments out now, before Policy 6200 is addressed, would be if (Superintendent Tony) Tata wants to highjack the decision about diversity before the board majority can act," Geary writes. "That is, dictate what the policy can or can't say by putting his own plan in first."

Bob Geary is defending efforts by the three new Democratic members of the Wake County school board to delay public release of the new student assignment base maps.

In a blog post Wednesday for the liberal Independent weekly, Geary singles out board members Susan Evans, Christine Kushner and Jim Martin and says they were right for insisting that "the diversity piece (be) given form" before releasing the assignments.

"Letting the staff publish its online list of base schools by addresses — a list that would be preliminary at best, if only because no board member has even seen it yet, let alone thought about all the ways it needs to be changed — would've been a serious blunder," Geary writes.

"That was Tata's intention, apparently, to let parents start looking up their assignments on Friday. Talk about putting the cart before the horse."

Day One Photo Gallery

I'll guarantee you something, the two most relieved people in Raleigh, North Carolina, Thursday evening were Hopscotch co-directors Greg Lowenhagen and Grayson Currin -- who dodged a major weather bullet when that day's epic downpour coincided with the day the festival didn't have a big outdoor show. Fingers crossed their good-weather mojo lasts through the weekend, and they get fair (or at least dry) skies the next two nights.

Meantime, night one of Hopscotch III was a fine time. Durham's Wood Ear played a solid set of measured twang rock, far more rocking than the group sounds on-record. Tom Maxwell was fun as ever, especially the cautionary "Jacob Marley." And Charlie Parr's driving, droning country blues sounded like a product of deepest Appalachia (except he's from Duluth, Minn.).

But the unchallenged high point of the first night was Matthew E. White from the Richmond jazz combo Fight the Big Bull, fronting a 30-piece band to recreate his new album "Big Inner." No, that number is not a typo. White himself made it 31 people onstage, an ensemble that included eight string players, an eight-piece horn section and a seven-voice choir. This was something they'll probably never have the means to do again, and it was spectacular. Equal parts soul revue and Phil Spector-ish Wall of Sound, the music was a sinuous and overpowering groove reminescent of some of David Byrne's eclectic explorations.

Early on, Currin scurried out to bring water to the musicians, ducking down so as not to appear obtrusive. Now that is a full-service festival co-director.

Hopscotch continues Friday and Saturday, with day parties around town, Jesus and Mary Chain on City Plaza Friday, The Roots on Saturday (with an after-party to follow at Six Forks Pub) and a total of 175 acts in 15 venues around downtown. For preview coverage, see this story in Friday's paper. And we'll see you around and about.

Wake County school board member John Tedesco is called "statesmanlike" in this week's issue of the liberal Independent weekly.

This article by Bob Geary notes Tedesco's willingness to reach out to the Democratic school board members for compromises on issues such as student assignment. Geary also writes that "around here, Tedesco is viewed as a conservative ideologue," but he's being called too moderate by his opponent for the Republican nomination for state schools superintendent.

"While Tedesco is poison for many Democrats, he's also the only Republican school board member who regularly communicates with any of the five Democrats who now constitute the new board majority, after two years of Republican control," Geary writes.

The Wake County school board has a lot crammed on its agenda today, including student assignment, school bus routing, the math placement policy and selling the Noble Road property.

That doesn't include the other items that may crop op, such as revisiting the mediation issue with the school board protesters and extending Superintendent Tony Tata's contract.

Let's start with the work session agenda, where we'll see if the new Democratic board majority heeds calls from its supporters to change the student assignment plan. Staff will give an update on the plan.