A recent Duke University study is giving high marks to the Wake County school system's old socioeconomic diversity policy.

The study found that the racial balance in North Carolina’s public schools has remained steady since 2005-06. But the study also that students are increasingly separated by income.

Amid this picture, the Duke study notes that "Wake County, with its longstanding policy of busing for economic balance, maintains relatively integrated schools." In contrast, the study found that "districts that have pursued more choice-driven plans in lieu of busing, such as Charlotte-Mecklenburg, have higher rates of racial imbalance."

It looks like the Wake County school board should be prepared to see the General Assembly pass the legislative changes requested by county commissioners.

As noted in today's article, State Rep. Paul Stam of Apex, House Speaker pro tempore, said Wednesday he expects the GOP-led legislature to pass this year new laws that would allow Wake County commissioners to take over ownership of schools and to require that some Wake school board seats be elected on a countywide basis.

Stam also said he’s expecting a bill to pass this year that would allow all counties to help charter schools build their facilities.

You might have been wondering whose meeting you were attending on Tuesday as school issues came up at the meetings of the Wake County school board and county commissioners.

As noted in today's article, commissioners voiced their concerns about the school system proposal's to add unarmed private security officers to every elementary school. As noted in today's article by Josh Shaffer, school board members reacted to the school issues that the commissioners were voting on as part of their 2013 State Legislative Agenda.

All this suggests a rocky road ahead as they work together on the bond issue and school funding.

The Wake County Board of Commissioners will vote this afternoon on making at-large school board elections and a change in who owns the schools part of their 2013 State Legislative Agenda.

Commissioners want local legislation making a majority of Wake County school board members be elected on at-large basis. This change could have major ramifications on the school board, where all nine members are elected by district.

Commissioners also wants the authority to own school sites and facilities that are purchased by the school system. In a related issue, the legislative agenda also includes a request for legislation that would allow the county to provide funds for charter schoools to build their facilities.

Commissioners have long wanted at-large school board elections and control of school property. The difference now is that commissioners could succeed with Republicans controlling the General Assembly and the governor's mansion.

UPDATE

The 2013 State Legislative Agenda was approved on a 4-3 partisan vote with Republicans in support and Democrats in opposition.

The groups that want to open charter schools in Wake County for the 2014-15 school year represent a variety of different interests and offer a wide range of programming options.

As noted in today's article, 13 schools are proposed for Wake, out of a group of 28 for the Triangle for 2014. Previous reports about 14 new schools in Wake were wrong. I'll explain more in the post.

Those who filed letters of intent weren't required to provide information on their mission statement, grade structure, student projections and target population. All that will come from the application due March 1.

Wake County could be in line for a massive expansion in the number of charter schools.

In a blog post Tuesday, Terry Stoops, director of education studies for the the conservative John Locke Foundation, writes that 14 groups have filed letters of intent with the state Department of Public Instruction to open charter schools in Wake County for the 2014-15 school year.

The Wake contingent is among a group of 161 applicants who filed letters of intent. Stoops writes that 33 applicants are from Mecklenburg County.

UPDATE/CORRECTION

The state says there were 154 letters, not the 161 reported by Stoops. Click here to download a spreadsheet with all the applicants.

A new Wake County charter school could open in Garner and not, as originally planned, in Raleigh.

As noted in this article in Sunday's Garner-Cleveland Record, leaders of the Longleaf School of the Arts are talking with the Garner Town Council about opening in a building next to the Garner Performing Arts Center. Dave Dahl, a member of Longleaf's board of directors, said they're looking at several locations but called the Garner option "an amazing opportunity."

But Longleaf said in its initial application it would be located in Raleigh. When the State Board of Education gave initial approval in September, it put the school under a clock to identify where it would open before the March vote on final approval.

The Longleaf School of the Arts in Raleigh received preliminary approval today from the State of Board of Education to open for the 2013-14 school year.

The vote was expected as the state board decided to vote on all 25 charter school applications as a block instead of individually. The board will vote in March on whether to give them final approval to open.

Longleaf could provide stiff competition for the Wake County school system, which didn't submit an impact statement on the charter. The combination of an arts-focused high school program and ties with the N.C. Governors School would likely appeal to many local families.

At the time of the application, Longleaf's organizers say they weren't yet ready to reveal the potential location for the school. The liberal N.C. Justice Center had argued that applicants that haven't secured buildings yet shouldn't get preliminary approval.

A proposed Wake County charter school should find out next month whether it's gotten preliminary approval from the State Board of Education to open in the 2013-14 school year.

The Longleaf School of the Arts, a high school to be located in Raleigh with a fine arts emphasis, is one of 25 applicants that the Public Charter School Advisory Council is recommending for approval. The state board will vote on the applications next month.

Longleaf almost didn't make the cut. The Advisory Council voted 7-6 to recommend the school. According to the advisory council's minutes,some members had questions about changes that Longleaf had made to its original application.

A Wake County Superior Court judge went further than expected today and yanked the charter allowing the N.C. Virtual Academy to open in August.

Sarah Ovaska, who has been covering the issue for the liberal N.C. Policy Watch, tweeted that Judge Abe Jones overturned an administrative law judge's ruling that granted the charter for what would have been the state's first online charter school. Jones has ruled that the state Board of Education's decision to not review the school's application was in effect a denial.

Based on statements that Jones had made at Monday's hearing, the thought was that the judge might refer the school's application back to the state board for further review.

The decision will be cheered by the 89 school boards, including Wake County, that joined the N.C. School Boards Association in joining the litigation against the charter school.

UPDATE

Click here to view a copy of today's ruling posted by N.C. Policy Watch.

Click here to view Satuday's N&O article by Anne Blythe. In the article, Bill Harrison, the state board fo education chairman, says now it might not be until 2014 before they're in a position to allow a virtual charter school to open.