Tata’s supporters and the N&O’s false balance

Above is a picture of Donna Williams, a former Republican candidate for Wake County School Board, out demonstrating in support of endangered school superintendent Tony Tata. Williams was one of about 30 demonstrators who attended yesterday’s rally, whom News and Observer reporters Thomas Goldsmith and T. Keung Hui called “self-described” nonpartisans:

At Monday’s meeting, a group of about 30 self-described nonpartisans gathered outside to oppose any move to remove the retired U.S. Army brigadier general.

Williams, by virtue of her being a former Republican candidate for school board, is obviously partisan. Her T-shirt emblazoned with “GOP” in big American-flag block letters tends to drive that point home. Looking through the other pictures of the rally I didn’t note any Democratic candidates out pursing their lips like the Church Lady. Nor did I see any folks wearing shirts with Obama on them or kicking donkeys (with our without patriotic American flag block letters).

The fact is that this rally was organized largely through an over-the-top, hyper-partisan email sent out by the Wake County Republican Party chairwoman Susan Bryant (which N&O columnist Barry Saunders rightfully skewers). Republican county commissioner Phil Matthews also sounded the alarm. Not only that, as we all know Tata was hired to serve a Republican-led school board. Tata has never made a secret of his conservative views.

We need to get the partisan-ness out of our schools but most importantly we need a superintendent who puts the mission above all else. The N&O goofed by not calling a spade a spade and implying this was anything but a partisan-Republican crowd out to save their endangered partisan-Republican superintendent. The N&O’s characterization of this is false balance and stretches the truth.