How much stock should people place on the new list of the nation's best public high schools that was released this week by U.S. News & World Report.

As noted in today's article, the rankings saw some schools that do well on other lists such as Raleigh Charter High, Enloe High and East Chapel Hill High not getting ranked. Less academically heralded schools such as Garner High and Southern Wake Academy were honored on this new list.

The difference from the lists done by Newsweek and The Washington Post seems to be that U.S. News requires schools to do well with their low-income and minority students.

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan is calling the recent Wake County school board election results that could put Democrats back in control "very positive" and saying he's "very, very closely" watching the runoff election.

Duncan was in Raleigh today to tout President Barack Obama's jobs bill. While at a press conference at Wake Tech, Duncan was asked about Wake's newly adopted student assignment plan.

"I don't know the details of the plan," Duncan said. "I do know that there was a recent school board election in Wake County. It was very positive. I know, I think there's one more seat up in a runoff and it's something I'm watching very, very closely.

Democrats are now using Wake County school board vice chairman John Tedesco as a campaign issue to help boost Kevin Hill's re-election bid over Heather Losurdo.

In an e-mail message today to Democrats, Wake County Democratic Party Chairman Mack Paul writes that "if Heather Losurdo wins, it means John Tedesco ascends to the chairmanship of the Wake County School Board."

In writing about what Tedesco's elevation to chair would mean, Paul rips into Tedesco for his Tea Party remarks about "bringing conservative values to education.” Paul also brings up Stephen Colbert's satirical attack on Tedesco on Comedy Central.

Richard Kahlenberg, senior fellow for the liberal Century Foundation, is calling last week's Wake County school board election results "an important victory for proponents of integration."

Kahlenberg's column, which was reposted today in The Washington Post's Answer Sheet blog, says "the vote has national significance because it demonstrates that if school diversity policies are pursued through choice, rather than compulsion, they can draw strong public support."

Kahlenberg was an outspoken supporter of the old diversity policy and criticized the board majority's decision to scrap it. He went on to back the efforts to develop a compromise plan "to employ choice to promote integration by student achievement levels, a close cousin of socioeconomic status."

"Voters sided with business people and teachers and civil rights groups in rejecting resegregation," Kanlenberg says of the election results. "This development should give hope to supporters of integration that if implemented smartly — through public school choice rather than compulsory busing — diversity can win broad support from voters."

If Democrats sweep the five Wake County school board seats to retake the majority today, it would arguably be due to the efforts of the 501 and 527 groups to link the Republicans to the Tea Party.

A steady stream of mailers, websites and skunk-wearing mascots from these Democrat-leaning groups has been pushing the message of a "Tea Party takeover of Wake County Schools." Democrats insist it's a powerful message while Republicans say the fears about the Tea Party are overblown.

"I'm confident that the average resident of Wake County has a negative view of the Tea Party in the United States," said Mack Paul, chairman of the Wake County Democratic Party.

A group whose donors include the N.C. Association of Educators and who has ties to other groups that have been critical of the Republican school board candidates in Wake County is sending out mailers warning about a Tea Party takeover.

This campaign mailer from N.C. Citizens for Protecting Our Schools was sent  to voters in at least four of the Wake school board districts on the ballot. Like the other 527 and 501(c)(4) groups it has ties with, this new mailer charges that the Tea Party is trying to take over Wake County schools.

"The Tea Party is on the Verge of Taking Over Wake County Schools," says the mailer. "YOU CAN STOP THEM ON OCTOBER 11."

The Koch brothers are responding directly to the charges they were involved in the 2009 Wake County school board elections, saying the accusations are "false," "ugly and baseless."

In this post today on KochFacts.com, the Koch brothers say no money was donated in 2009 to Wake school board candidate by family members or the company's political action committee.

"The Wake County School Board claim is not a new one and has been debunked, most notably by Newsweek earlier this year and in the Washington Post," according to KochFacts.com. "'Partisan “progressive' activists recently have resurrected the tale and further embellished the ugly and baseless racial charge. This unfortunate but increasingly common political tactic is apparently intended to stigmatize opponents even if the underlying accusation is completely false."

Is the rest of the nation watching this fall's Wake County school board elections?

As noted in today's article, that's an assertion made by state Rep. Paul Stam, the House Majority Leader, in explaining why he's endorsing school board chairman Ron Margiotta in his re-election bid in District 8.

"I support Ron Margiotta because this election represents a national litmus test in education reform," Stam said in an invitation to a July 14 fundraiser for Margiotta. "From the New York Times to the Washington Post, the Wake County School board elections will be analyzed on a national scale."

Wake County school board member John Tedesco's colleagues weren't joking when they repeatedly said he was charged up on caffeine when he gave a fiery speech at last Thursday's Northern Wake Republican Club meeting.

During the speech, Tedesco praised the board majority's actions since December 2009 in "revamping public education." He also ripped into liberals, including what he called their "unholy trinity" of the NAACP, the Great Schools in Wake Coalition and Raleigh FIST.

"They will try and scare people," Tedesco said of the opposition. "People use fear. These are cowards who understand that anger can be power as long as there is a victim on TV. So they will strike fear."

Education Week has become the latest mainstream publication to portray the Wake County school diversity fight as being an example of Tea Party influence sweeping candidates into office.

Wake is prominently featured in an article this week in Education Week titled "Tea Partiers Playing a Role in Some School Board Races." The article talks about how Tea Party groups are becoming more active in local races.

The article then says "the best-known example in education circles is Wake County." Without specifically mentioning Tea Party, the article talks about how the new school board majority was elected in 2009 with support from "some conservative community organizations that viewed the (diversity) policy as social engineering."

Whether you agree or not with the allegations about Tea Party influence in Wake, the charge has snowballed since the January article in the Washington Post. It's become almost conventional wisdom.