Supporters of the diversity policy are rallying around the flag on Thursday.

On Thursday night, the YWCA of the Greater Triangle, the ACLU of North Carolina and WakeUP Wake County will host a forum on educational equity that "will discuss the significance of the school board elections." While no endorsements will be made, don't be shocked if you hear about the consequences of abandoning the diversity policy.

Calla Wright, head of the Coalition of Concerned Citizens for African American Children, will speak at the forum. It will come after she participates in a press conference earlier in the day with other groups to back school board candidates who support the diversity policy.

Pretty much everyone can agree that this year's school board elections offer critics one of their best chances in recent memory to make major gains.

But as noted in today's article, there's dispute over just where critics are coming from. Is it, as claimed by Wake Democratic Party Chairman Jack Nichols, a campaign being orchestrated by the Republicans to seize control of the school board?

"Other than the Wake Republican Party, are there other groups who have endorsed those candidates?" Nichols said. "No one."

District 2 school board candidate Carlene Lucas is talking about her controlled-choice policy and who she'd support if she wasn't running.

In an interview in this week's Garner Citizen, Lucas explains that her idea of controlled choice involves creating geographic zones. Parents would pick which schools they'd want to attend in that zone with a limited number of seats set aside for low-income students.

Lucas is also asked which candidate she'd vote for if she wasn't in the race. She says it's "probably Cathy [Truitt]."

The Wake Schools Community Alliance has raised more than $20,000 so far in its bid to elect school board candidates who are critics of the current diversity policy.

The latest report from the group shows that it has raised $24,034.44 and had $10,740.06 left over as of Sept. 21. That money could be useful in the final weeks of the campaign and in any runoffs.

Debra Goldman's school board campaign finance report is in but we're still waiting for several more.

According to an e-mail message from the state Board of Elections, the Wake Schools Community Alliance electronically transmitted a report late Monday afternoon. It hasn't been forwarded yet to the Wake County Board of Elections.

No updated reports are in yet from candidates Chris Malone or John Tedesco or the Take Wake Schools Back PAC. But as long as their updated reports were postmarked no later than Monday they're okay.

Called2Action, a conservative Christian group, has announced its school board candidate endorsements.

The group says it's backing Chris Malone in District 1, John Tedesco in District 2, Deborah Prickett in District 7 and Debra Goldman in District 9. But will Called2Action's support scare off some voters as liberal groups will likely try to take shots at the endorsements?

This morning's editorial section has a pair of competing op-ed pieces on the Wake school board races.

In the piece from Maria Mauriello, she warns "that the school system's critics want to roll back the clock on our children." She's the co-founder of BiggerPicture4Wake, which has endorsed candidates who support the diversity policy.

The opposing piece from Chris Marsch criticizes how Wake has applied the diversity policy. He's endorsing the candidates who happen to be backed by the Wake Schools Community Alliance.

BTW, Marsch had talked with the Wake County Democratic Party about running for the District 2 school board seat. Marsch has also been involved in the No Child Left Behind notification issue at Barwell Road Elementary.

So who has more environmentally friendly campaign signs in the District 9 Wake school board race?

Is it Lois Nixon, a retired environmental educator, or Debra Goldman? It depends on who you ask.

There wasn't much of a District 7 school board candidate debate on Monday's Bill LuMaye show on WPTF.

Only Deborah Prickett attended. LuMaye told listeners that Karen Simon declined to participate.

Click here to listen to Prickett's interview.

Thursday's four-way District 2 forum was a lot more heated. Click here and here to listen.

Some local African-American leaders are planning to publicly state their support for Wake school board candidates who back the diversity policy.

The details are being finalized, but it's looking like a Thursday press conference will be held involving groups such as the Raleigh-Wake Citizens Association and the Coalition of Concerned Citizens for African American Children.