It's looking like student achievement will be added as one of the new guiding principles to Wake County's magnet school program.

As noted in today's article, there was a good deal of discussion at Wednesday's Wake County school board meeting about a review of student achievement data at magnet schools. The focus was how at the elementary and middle school level, the magnet schools had wider gaps than the non-magnet schools.

If adopted into the guiding principles, it could impact which schools get magnetized. It could also impact whether some existing magnet schools change their program or are demagnetized.

The Wake County school board will meet this afternoon to talk about the magnet school review.

There's a level of tension, both on and off the board, about what the future of the magnet program will be under the new choice plan. There's also debate about what role the themed academies, from the additional STEM schools to the new single-sex leadership academies, will have going forward.

Those issues were highlighted during last week's discussion of the draft strategic plan.

UPDATE

Click here for the magnet data being shared at today's work session.

Yevonne Brannon, chairwoman of the Great Schools in Wake Coalition, is mobilizing people to participate in the magnet school survey and to urge the Wake County school board to scrap the new student assignment plan.

In a Sunday blog post, Allison Backhouse posts a copy of a Saturday email that she obtained in which Brannon writes that they "NEED a lot of push as the next school board meeting (JUNE 5) to MAKE A NEW PLAN for 2013." Brannon suggests writing "a lot of" letters to the editor "asking for a directive that stops using the CHOICE proximity model and starts using a RESIDENCEY based assignment plan."

Brannon lists the names of other Great Schools leaders, Patty Williams, Amy Womble and Lynn Edmonds, whom she says can help edit the letters and try to get them published.

UPDATE

Backhouse had obtained the email after it was forwarded Sunday to the Coalition of  Concerned Citizens for African American Children. Here is the email that CCCAAC President Calla Wright sent today, Monday, saying they'll stop forwarding messages:

From: Calla Wright <ccaac_aacca@yahoo.com>
Subject: [CoalitionofConcernedCitizensforAfricanAmericanChildren] Sharing Email Stopped because of the confidential message
Date: May 21, 2012 5:23:34 PM EDT
To: coalitionofconcernedcitizensforafricanamericanchildren@yahoogroups.com
Cc: parentsfordiversity@yahoogroups.com, ybrannon@gmail.com

We have decided to limit the number of emails forwarded to this group because of the confidentail messages that are shared with others who support segregated/neighborhood schools.  It is necessary for us to reduce the number of emails sent and we have decided to only share public information.
Please share this message that all confidential emails will stop.

During today's news conference, Wake County Superintendent Tony Tata announced a new online survey on the magnet school program and pointed to an uptick in home sales to dispute allegations that the student assignment plan is driving people away.

Starting with magnet schools, click here to take a survey that will run through June 1. Wake will use the feedback from the survey as part of the review of the magnet school program.

Tata said part of the review is looking at whether the objectives of the magnet school program should be revised, including making student achievement one of the components. He said the achievement gaps in magnet schools are "pretty stark."

Having a gifted and talented magnet theme can help students vying for state and national academic titles.

As noted in today's article, a team from Carnage Middle School won first place at the state level and will now represent North Carolina in the National History Day contest. They produced a documentary on the state's former eugenics program.

The Wake County magnet students got time to work on the project because Carnage offers a wide range of electives, including for academic competitions. One such elective is for students to participate in National History Day.

Another Carnage group finished in third place in the junior documentary category, one spot shy of making it to the national competition. They interviewed Superintendent Tony Tata for their documentary on what's happened since Brown vs. Board of Education, including whether Wake could resegregate following the end of the diversity policy.

Should the Wake County school system guarantee bus service to all students who choose to stay on their current feeder pattern?

It's an issue in the new student assignment that the school board has been wrestling with for the past several months. The discussion got personal at times last week with board member Jim Martin, the most outspoken proponent of providing the bus service, taking shots from board members Debra Goldman and Deborah Prickett.

For now, staff is continuing to review what bus service can be provided.

SEE UPDATE AT END OF POST

The Wake County school board could decide as soon as August which schools get demagnetized and which ones get magnet programs.

Deputy Superintendent Cathy Moore said they want the decision in August so they can know which schools to include in the next federal magnet schools grant application. It will also let them work on themes for individual schools heading into the November magnet school fair.

Any changes wouldn't go into effect until the 2013-14 school year.

If it's like what happened in 2008, it will produce a firestorm at schools that are demagnetized.

The budget, student assignment and magnet schools are among the items on today's Wake County school board plate.

During the work session, the board is setting aside an hour to get a staff update on how round two of the assignment plan went and to hear about any recommendations for changes. The vote on changes would come during the regular meeting.

Student assignment topics will include the questions and timing for the parent survey, whether to provide transportation to pre-assigned feeder pattern students with no bus service, when to dissolve wait lists, the perception of mandatory year round assignments and whether to open this fall Abbotts Creek and Richland Creek elementary schools.

The Wake Education Partnership is warning Wake County Superintendent Tony Tata that "he will need to move both quickly and carefully" in shaping the next chapter of the magnet school program.

In the latest issue of In Context, the WEP's e-newsletter notes today how Tata asked about 100 parents, educators and business leaders last week to offer advice on the next chapter in Wake’s magnet school history. This is occurring as staff conducts a review of the magnet program.

“We’re not going to be able to just layer new stuff on,” Tata is quoted as telling that group. “I’m a big supporter of the magnet programs, but it has to be in the right place doing the right thing.”

As expected, Wake County Superintendent Tony Tata faced a steady stream of questions about the new student assignment plan at today's press conference.

Tata blamed many of the problems giving parents the schools they want on what he called the old assignment plan’s failure to control crowding in the district. He said the new plan’s efforts to adhere to strict capacity limits created “friction points.”

“Our assessment right now is that the plan has worked for the vast majority of the county,” Tata said. “But it’s also shone a very bright spotlight on where we have some proximity capacity issues and we intend to address the near-term issues immediately as best we can. This is the first step in developing a sustainable long-term plan for this county.”