Could the decision by the Wake County school board's Democratic majority to fire Superintendent Tony Tata come back to haunt them when it comes to high school accreditation?

As noted in today's article, Mark Elgart, president of AdvancED, said Monday he’s “troubled” by recent decisions by the the board majority to fire Tata and to drop the choice-based student assignment plan. He said he's concerned about major decisions once again being made along 5-4 partisan lines.

It's not helping the board majority that Elgart has been vocal in praising Tata's actions as superintendent.

The Wake County Taxpayers Association now wants AdvancED to investigate the firing of Wake County Schools Superintendent Tony Tata.

WCTA announced today it had amended its original complaint against the school system to include the firing of Tata, which it says has left Wake "leaderless." The complaint also faults the board's Democratic majority for holding the discussion in closed session and not allowing a public hearing before the vote.

"This firing was shocking and has had an extremely negative impact on our community and our schools," said WCTA in the amended complaint. "It has become even more clear since the filing of our original complaint, that the majority members of the Wake County Board of Education are under undue influence of the partisan group, Great Schools in Wake (GSIW)."

Wake County school board chairman Kevin Hill is continuing his efforts to justify the board majority's firing of Superintendent Tony Tata.

As noted in today's article, Hill met Friday with N&O editors and reporters to list out issues such as concerns about Tata's relationship with board members and staff and his handling of taxpayer dollars. Some of it's similar to what he said at Tuesday's board meeting but he went into more detail.

Hill also went into how he wants to handle the superintendent's search and the timing of the next school bond issue.

UPDATE

Click here to view the letter to the editor from Kevin Hill that will appear in Tuesday's paper in response to Tata's point of view column.

Wake County school board member Debra Goldman is accusing the board majority of firing Superintendent Tony Tata at the behest of the Great Schools in Wake Coalition.

As noted in today's article, Goldman and other Republican board members were angry in their remarks about Tata's firing by the Democratic majority. Goldman used part of her time at the meeting to go after Great Schools.

"Now a partisan board majority is choosing to dismantle our school system to remove him from the Wake County schools," Goldman said of Tata's firing. "Why? You just heard not for cause, not for any documentable or viable reason. They didn't pick him. It's just that simple.

For all those who were upset that AdvancED acted on the complaint filed by the state NAACP, how do you feel about the group possibly acting on the allegations filed by the Wake County Taxpayers Association?

As noted in today's article, the WCTA filed a complaint Wednesday accusing the Wake County's Democratic school board majority of creating "a climate of fear and intimidation." The WCTA argues the board majority has undermined the progress that Wake was making to comply with AdvancED's earlier findings.

Wake County school board member Chris Malone said that if AdvancED doesn't act on the complaint that it will show the group is unfair.

The Wake County Taxpayers Association announced today that it had filed a complaint with AdvancED asking the accreditation organization to investigate the actions of the Wake County school board majority.

The complaint hits on a variety of things, including the private meeting the new board members had with Michael Alves, the post-midnight vote on the student assignment directive and board member Jim Martin trying to arrange an assignment provision for parents going on sabbaticals,  

Several of the allegations deal with the Great Schools in Wake Coalition, from the behavior of some members in the audience of board meetings to charges they've unduly influenced the board majority.

Twenty-five people, consisting mostly of critics of the choice plan, have signed up to speak at tonight's Wake County school board meeting.

Speakers include familiar names like Sally Wooten, Neil Riemann, Lynn Stellings, Ellen Nightingale, Lee Hogewood, Rhonda Curtright, Amy Lee, Peter Rumsey, Amy Womble and Lettice Rhodes. Jennifer Mansfield could be on the few speakers who object to the board adopting the student assignment directive.

Also on the list is Russell Capps, president of the Wake County Taxpayers Association. He's listed as presenting an appreciation statement to Superintendent Tony Tata.

UPDATE

The turnout is actually fairly mixed with the majority criticizing the choice plan but a large number, such as Rhonda Curtright, who say it shouldn't be discarded for a base plan now.

Should the Wake County school board move quickly to extend Superintendent Tony Tata's contract?

As noted in today's article, Tata is generally getting good reviews as he hits the one-year anniversary mark of his tenure on Tuesday. But he also faces some challenges, including potentially from members of the new Democratic school board majority.

Republican school board members are talking about wanting the board to take action next month to extend Tata's contract past the June 30, 2014 end date.

Is the Wake County school system undergoing "militarization" under the tenure of Superintendent Tony Tata?

That's a charge leveled in this Dec. 16 article by Jason Langberg and Lewis Pitts from the liberal Advocates for Children's Services. The article points to Tata's military career, the requirement of Junior ROTC for the new single-sex leadership academies and Wake's recent involvement in cybersecurity competitions.

The authors start by calling the Occupy Wall Street movement an "education justice movement." The piece charges that public education has "undergone a corporate coup" with the "mega-buck mafia’s buyout of public education."

Wake County school board members Chris Malone and Deborah Prickett will be the guest speakers at tonight's monthly meeting of the Wake County Taxpayers Association.

The meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. at the Barbecue Lodge, 4600 Capital Blvd. in Raleigh. But you're asked to come at 5:30 p.m. if you want time to order your food and get seated.

The agenda is also supposed to include a speaker who will provide an update on happenings at the state legislature.

Members of the school board majority have been frequently invited to speak at WCTA meetings.