How significant, if at all, is it that the gap has narrowed between the Wake County school system's graduation rate and the state average?

It was one of the points of contention during Tuesday's school board retreat as the board reviewed this draft strategic plan. Superintendent Tony Tata talked about how pg. 6 shows the state's graduation rate has risen since 2006 while it's dropped in Wake.

"That’s an alarming trend there where we are flat or marginally decreasing while the state is steadily increasing," Tata told the board.

The Wake County school board agreed to one change in the draft strategic plan this afternoon while having some heated discussions on other areas.

They board agreed to modify the vision section of the plan to add in the words that students will "be accountable partners" in their education. it was added after board member Jim Martin said that students need to have some responsibility in the issue.

I'll get into more on the other issues later, but the board disagreed about whether to leave in the draft strategic plan the use of teacher merit pay and the expansion of academies. Board members also disagreed on the significance of the rest of the state catching up to Wake's graduation rate.

The board is taking a lunch break before resuming discussion at 2:45 p.m. on board-superintendent communications.

UPDATE

Staff will bring back the revised core mission, vision and beliefs to the June 5 regular meeting for a vote.

The full strategic plan will be pulled from the June 5 action meeting. School board chairman Kevin Hill said individual members or groups of two can meet with Chief of Staff/Chief Transformation Officer Judy Peppler to go over any suggested wording changes before discussing at the June 5 work session.

Terry Stoops is taking aim at a recent Brookings Institution report that speculated that the schools in the Raleigh-Cary metropolitan area benefited from the Wake County school system's “history of aggressive district-wide socioeconomic integration policies.”

In an op-ed piece today, Stoops, the director of education studies for the conservative John Locke Foundation, writes that the Brookings report has "critical flaws." Stoops writes that there are "fundamental dissimilarities" between the Raleigh-Cary metro area and the other large metro areas in the report.  

Stoops also points to how Wake's low-income students trail the state in performance and in graduation rate.

"Without a doubt, residents of Wake County want a system of public schools that provides a high-quality education to all children," Stoops writes. "But the answer does not lie in empowering the school board or county commission to find ways to compel a certain class of citizens to attend a certain school or live in a particular neighborhood."

N.C. HEAT says the recent election results show that "the people of Wake County spoke loud and clear that the political nature of the Wake County Board of Education would no longer be tolerated."

In a press release Monday, the liberal youth advocacy group says that to move Wake County forward the new school board majority should work "to create schools that are diverse in nature and allow for all students to learn and grow from such diversity."

The group says "the following actions are essential to creating equitable education for all students:

Rick Martinez and Donna Martinez are calling the Wake County school board election results a rejection of education reform and another reason for minority parents to pull their children from the school system.

On their show this morning on WPTF, both conservative talk show hosts said giving back Democrats control of the Wake school board means a return to policies that resulted in low graduation rates for black, Hispanic and low-income students.

"That is what Wake County has voted for, and I think you get what you vote for," said Donna Martinez.

Can you imagine Wake County school board member Kevin Hill as a hippie?

That's the approach in this new campaign mailer sent late last week by Civitas Action that works on the theme that Hill supports failed policies of the past. The group photoshopped an image of Hill wearing a tie-dyed T-shirt and making a peace symbol. It also shows a drawing of a VW bus.

"Just like shag carpet and leisure suits, Kevin Hill's policies were bad, and belong in the past," says the mailer from the conservative advocacy group.

Cash Michaels is defending himself against Wake County school board vice chairman John Tedesco's charges that his recent Carolinian article had "so many lies."

In a blog post Friday, Michaels says it's his job "to expose the record" when writing about the implications of Tedesco potentially becoming board chairman after the runoff election.

"To be blunt, Heather Losurdo isn’t the 800 lb. gorilla here," Michaels writes. "John Tedesco is."

The conservative Wake Community Network is calling U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan "dumb" for his latest comments on the Wake County school board elections and the old diversity policy.

In addition to saying the recent election results were "very positive," Duncan said Tuesday he "would hate to see Wake County lose that mantle" as "a national leader in diversity."  

"Does he know about how effectively these diverse, 'integrated,' magnet schools like Enloe graduate socio-economically disadvantaged children?" Joey Stansbury wrote today in his Wake Community Network Daily Journal. "Does he know that under the old failed diversity busing policy, graduation rates for those children bottomed out at 54.2%?

Another outsider coming into Wake County to speak about something they know nothing about."

"The Ron Margiotta Record" is the focus of this recent campaign mailer sent by the incumbent Wake County school board chairman.

Margiotta says in the mailer that during his two terms on the board "student achievement has steadily improved" and "today Wake County Public Schools ranks as one of the top districts in the Nation." He cites things such as the first gain in graduation rates in seven years, 95 percent of schools meeting or exceeding state ABC growth goals and the increase in placement among qualified middle school students in advanced math classes.

Margiotta also touts things such as no teacher layoffs in the face of $100 million in budget cuts, how he "protected all magnet programs across the county after federal support dollars ended" and the Broad Superintendents Academy audit showing the leanness of the district's operations.

The Wake County Republican Party is trumpeting in this new radio campaign ad the school system's high average SAT score and improving graduation rate to say the school board majority has been a "spectacular success."

It's part of a theme being used by members of the Wake County school board majority and their supporters heading into the election next week. The Wake County Democratic Party is objecting, such as in this blog post last week from former Deputy State Schools Superintendent J.B. Buxton accusing the Republicans of taking credit for efforts begun by prior boards.

Here's the text for the radio ad: