Richard Kahlenberg is calling the Wake County school system's school diversity fight an example of one of the best developments to happen in education in 2010.

But before you scratch your heads about it, here's what Kahlenberg, an ardent defender of using socioeconomic integration, means.

In a blog post Monday for the progressive Century Foundation, Kahlenberg cites the controversy in Wake an an example of how at the local level "many citizens and education leaders fought back vigorously against growing segregation."

How much stock should be placed in the Wake NCAE teacher survey showing strong dissatisfaction with the Wake County school board and the elimination of the diversity policy?

As noted in today's article, 81 percent of the respondents disagreed with the elimination of the diversity policy. In addition, 81 percent of the respondents said they had a negative impression of the school board and 72 percent felt Wake is going down the wrong track.

Republican school board member John Tedesco pointed to how Wake NCAE has been an opponent of the board majority and that a majority of Wake's teachers aren't part of the group.

Wake County school board members Ron Margiotta and John Tedesco and county commissioners Tony Gurley, Joe Bryan, Paul Coble and Betty Lou Ward are slated to attend a special showing tonight of the documentary "Waiting for Superman."

Those elected officials are among the nearly 200 people that Parents for Educational Freedom in N.C. says have agreed to attend tonight's free screening and post-film discussion. The Raleigh-Wake Citizens Association is partnering with PEFNC in sponsoring the screening at 6 p.m. at Regal North Hills Stadium 14 in Raleigh.

"The discussion will allow parents and community leaders — including members of the Wake County School Board and the Wake County Board of Commissioners — to share questions and ideas about local educational issues and solutions for reform," according to a PEFNC media advisory.

When I told my mom about "Teach: Tony Danza" (A&E, 10 tonight), the reality show that chronicles the actor's year-long experience as a 10th-grade English teacher, she said "Hmm. I could see that."

What mom, a retired educator, meant was that you can tell Danza has a teacher's heart. The man is likable, drips with sincerity, and seems awfully kind and caring.

But as you learn from "Teach," those qualities might make you right for the job, but they don't make you a teacher. And through Danza's experience, this excellent, engrossing, emotional journey makes plain what we mouth, but don't really live: Teaching is a noble and undervalued profession.