Supporters of Wake County's old school diversity policy took over Wednesday night's reassignment public hearing at Southeast Raleigh.

As noted in today's article by Ray Martin, most of the speakers focused on criticizing the board for eliminating the diversity policy instead of on the specifics of the 2011-12 student reassignment plan.

Speakers included some familiar names from school board meetings and a group of people organized by the YWCA of the Greater Triangle, one of the major backers of the Wake Education Advocates and the Great Schools in Wake Coalition.

Local Latino youth activists were making the rounds yesterday, including the Wake County school board meeting.

As noted on NC Equal's web page, the activists were in Chapel Hill on Tuesday for an event urging Congress to pass the DREAM Act, which would provide a path to citizenship for immigrants brought to the country illegally as children. To qualify, immigrants would have to complete two years of college or military service and keep a clean record.

Supporters of Wake County's old diversity policy are uniting this weekend with critics of the federal 287(g) program that targets illegal immigrants.

The Great Schools in Wake Coalition, NC HEAT, NC Equals and the Youth Organizing Institute are holding a voter registration training session on Saturday at 10 a.m. at Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Raleigh. Organizers are closely linking the issues of school diversity and immigration.

"Participants will also learn about how to get involved in building power in our communities to improve our schools and work for justice immigration policies," according to the event website. "If you care about good schools for ALL children and creating a community of tolerance, love, and respect, please come out to this training."

Supporters of Wake County's old diversity policy are paying people to attend a parent advocacy retreat next week that will include a workshop on civil disobedience.

Stipends are being offered by Wake Education Advocates to encourage attendance at the free retreat. The retreat is open to everyone but priority is being given to get parents of low-income minority children to attend.

"Low-income children and children of color in Wake County face tremendous challenges, including increasingly segregated schools, achievement gaps, and high suspension rates," according to the website for the retreat. "Their parents can and should be their greatest advocates."

If you disagree with the elimination of Wake County's socioeconomic diversity policy, here's your chance to get paid to be on the front lines of the fight.

Several groups, including the Great Schools in Wake Coalition and the YWCA of the Greater Triangle, have joined together to form Wake Education Advocates. WEA is looking to hire a coordinator for its new Great Schools Initiative.

"The goal of GSI is to empower those most impacted by school assignment changes — low-income students and students of color and their families — to advocate for diversity and equity in education," according to the job description for the position of GSI coordinator.