We're now getting concrete evidence that national money was used in the Wake County school board races to help Democratic candidates retake the board majority.

A new campaign finance report posted today by the Wake County Board of Elections shows that N.C. Citizens for Protecting Our Schools spent $8,418.69 on get-out-to-vote calls to help Democratic school board incumbent Kevin Hill.

The calls were made possible, according to the report, by a $30,000 donation on Oct. 26 from D.C.-based America's Families First Action Fund. The national 501(c)4 group has been called a super PAC that helps Democratic candidates and is heavily backed by labor unions.

We now know that Common Sense Matters spent $52,448.90 on campaign mailers attacking Wake County school board candidates Heather Losurdo and Ron Margiotta.

A new campaign finance report filed today shows that the 527 group spent $24,526.44 on various mailers trying to link the two candidates to the Tea Party. This comes after a prior report showed the group had spent $27,922.46 on the initial mailers.

Common Sense Matters has been funded by the N.C. Futures Action Fund, which is led by Dean Debnam and which in turn received funding from the N.C. Association of Educators.

We're still waiting for reports from other groups like N.C. Citizens For Protecting Our Schools and the N.C. Futures Action Fund that could show the extent of the money spent by 501 and 527 groups to indirectly help the Democratic school board candidates.

The most expensive campaign in Wake County school board history is leading  to a flurry of ads and charges.

As noted in today's article, reports on file show $385,909 has been raised so far by the candidates and other groups. But the number is actually far higher because many groups don't have to file yet or have only filed partial reports.

For instance, the $385,909 doesn't include the political parties and all the 501 groups and 527 groups. By the time all the numbers come in, the amount raised should easily exceed $500,000.

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."

Gov. Bev Perdue says she supports reforming the personnel law in the upcoming legislative session that beings Wednesday. She says she will draft legislation if no one else does.

“State personnel law is critical to me,” Perdue said in a recent interview. “. . . I’m seeing the possibility that [Senate Democrats] are going to come forward with something that releases [more] personnel data. I hope they do. If not, we’ll do it.”

Perdue, a New Bern Democrat, is the third state leader to propose opening up the personnel law, which a recent News & Observer series found to be among the most secretive in the nation. Senate leader Marc Basnight, a Manteo Democrat, and Senate Minority Leader Phil Berger, a Rockingham County Republican, have also said they will seek to make more personnel information public.

Some school board candidates definitely want it known that they're getting money from the N.C. Association of Educators.

The NCAE's PAC has given $2,000 apiece to Rita Rakestraw, Horace Tart, Karen Simon and Lois Nixon, But the donations weren't listed on the original finance reports filed last week by Rakestraw and Simon.

Both Rakestraw and Simon say they mistakenly left out the the page in their respective reports that would have showed the NCAE donation. It definitely was an accident in Simon's case as she called after Friday's article about campaign donations to question why her NCAE contribution had been omitted.

Wake Superintendent Del Burns is mounting another defense of the school district's decision not to rely too much on federal stimulus dollars.

In this week's journal, Burns says the stimulus dollars are "not a magical solution that will make everything like it was." This comes as outside groups, including NCAE and Gov. Perdue, are saying that Wake should use the stimulus dollars more to save teacher jobs.

Burns stresses that the stimulus dollars are set to expire in two years.

Wake's reluctance to extensively use federal stimulus money to save existing jobs is drawing fire from the N.C. Association of Educators and Gov. Beverly Perdue.

As noted in today's article, Wake school leaders complained that the state's discretionary cuts are not really so discretionary after all, leading to larger class sizes and fewer teaching positions this fall. They also are saying they're reluctant to rely too much on stimulus money that's scheduled to go away after two years.

But NCAE and Perdue, which both backed the budget deal and argued that stimulus money could be a lifesaver for school jobs, aren't happy with Wake's response.

UPDATED END OF POST TO INCLUDE LINKS TO PERDUE'S BUDGET ORDER, WHERE WAKE IS MAKING THE CUTS AND HOW IT'S SPENDING THE STIMULUS MONEY.

Educators rally to protest proposed N.C. budget cuts to education at the NCAE center on Salisbury Street in downtown Raleigh on Saturday afternoon, ... more

Teachers can celebrate a small victory in being able to take a day off from work while school is in session and not have to pay for a substitute.

Included in the state budget is money to cover "personal leave" days for teachers. In the past, teachers had to pay $50 to take a personal day. The money went to help cover the cost of the substitute.

Jennifer Lanane, president of the Wake chapter of the North Carolina Association of Educators said the money included in the budget only includes one day for personal leave instead of the two days the association and others were lobbying for. Lanane also pointed out that the money will only cover one year, so teacher associations will have to fight for additional money next year.

According to an N&O article in April 2007, the policy had been on the books since the early 1960s. In 2006, 77,252 personal leave days were taken by teachers across the state, and it cost about $6 million to pay for substitutes. Teachers contributed about $3.8 million of that cost.

Teachers complained that they were being charged the $50, but a substitute was not always used. They said in many cases, other teachers covered their classes.

Under state policy, teachers earn two days each year for personal leave, which is often used for weddings, graduations or birthdays. Teachers don't have to pay for a sub when they are sick, but they had to pay the deduction when they took a personal leave day.