Posted on February 3 2011 by Andrew Kelynack

Tata plans ‘open, honest’ talk with NAACP

New Wake County schools Superintendent Tony Tata has accepted an offer to meet with the state NAACP, a group whose complaints have led to a federal civil rights probe of the school system.

In a letter Friday, Tata said he looked forward to having “an open and honest conversation” during a private meeting with the Rev. William Barber, president of the state NAACP. Tata, who was hired by the Republican school board majority that eliminated Wake’s diversity policy, has already met with groups who object to the district’s move toward neighborhood schools.

“I’ve said I would meet with anyone who wants to talk with me,” Tata said. “Why shouldn’t I meet with him?”

In an open letter to Tata on Wednesday, Barber wrote that the civil rights group would like to meet with him as soon as possible.

“We trust we can establish a strong working relationship as we address the critical problems many children in the Wake County Schools face,” Barber writes.

Barber said the NAACP can help Wake with initiatives such as improving student achievement and graduation rates and stopping the school-to-prison pipeline. But he also said the organization “will use every means possible to stop and reverse actions that would dismantle Wake’s nationally recognized SES diversity policy.”

Salivating over surplus

Wake County commissioners are getting itchy fingers just thinking about the county school system’s $25.2 million in leftover money going into a new budget year.

The commissioners can’t get their hands on the money but will have an answer ready if the school board asks for an increase in the $313 million they received from commissioners for the past two years.

County Manager David Cooke disclosed the school system’s surplus at Friday’s annual retreat of the Board of Commissioners, which provides more than a quarter of the school board’s funding. The unspent money consists mostly of about $7.3 million in instructional services, attributed to lapsed salaries and hiring freezes, and $15.5 million in system support – everything from special population support to public relations.

“If we wanted to find additional money for the schools, the quickest place to go would be to their fund balance, which is our money anyway,” said commissioners Chairman Paul Coble.

Any state money left at the end of a budget year goes back to the state, but the county can hold on to local funds.

Historically, the school board has long maintained that it has the right to hang on to extra money for use in emergencies. The $25 million-plus balance for the coming year is the largest in seven years. The school board can only spend up to half of the rainy day fund to balance out the budget each year.

Durham’s vox GOP

Ted Hicks, who is running for Republican Party chairman in Durham County, vows to give the GOP a voice in Durham, where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans almost 4-to-1.

“The Durham GOP has no Facebook page or Twitter feeds,” Hicks wrote in a campaign e-mail Thursday. “There is no Durham GOP e-mail newsletter. There’s not even a Durham GOP paper-based newsletter. I’ve never even seen an article or letter-to-the editor printed in the local newspapers authored by the chairman of the party.

“The only way you know anything about the Durham GOP is if you happen to be one of the (approximately) 25 people who happen to come to the monthly GOP meetings … but then again, how would you even know about the monthly meetings?” Hicks concluded.

Hicks is challenging current GOP Chairman Tom Stark. The party website, durhamgop.com, lists the county convention on March 19, 8:30 to 11:30 a.m., at the Durham Public Schools Staff Development Center, 2107 Hillandale Road.

Bell on Durham

Durham Mayor Bill Bell gives his annual State of the City speech at 7 p.m. Monday, prior to the City Council’s regular meeting.

His presentation includes a 15-minute video on what Durham achieved in 2010, and the mayor’s talk typically describes circumstances the city faces and his own goals for the city in the year ahead. In 2010, Bell’s priorities were safe neighborhoods, job creation and regional cooperation.

Bell speaks in the council chamber at City Hall; the talk will be carried on cable channel 8 and on the city website, www.ci .durham.nc.us .

Bell is one of several Triangle mayors who give “state of the burg” speeches. Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker gives his State of the City talk at noon March 24 in the Memorial Auditorium lobby. Cary Mayor Harold Weinbrecht, Garner Mayor Ronnie Williams and Chapel Hill Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt spoke in January.

Political trails

Senior Democrats of Wake County meet Feb. 16 at the Crabtree Marriott Hotel from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Lunch begins at 11 and the program at 11:30. The program will feature Thomas Duane Poole of Clayton, who ran a full page ad in The News & Observer in October under the headline “We tax too much. We spend too much. We borrow too much.” The public is invited.

The Durham County Republican Party holds its Lincoln’s Day Dinner Feb. 24 at Hope Valley Country Club. Speaker is state GOP Chairman Robin Hayes. Social hour is at 6 p.m., dinner at 7, tickets $50; table for eight, $500. For information, see durhamgop.com/ events .

Compiled by staff writers Thomas Goldsmith, Jim Wise and T. Keung Hui.

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