Amid the flying charges, countercharges and piles of proposals, candidates campaigning in the hotly contested Wake County school board races agree on some things.
The 11 active contestants vying for four seats on the Oct. 6 ballot all say the school board and administration should be more responsive to families.
They also agree that students who come to the system from poor families need more academic help.
But the election could upend long-standing policies in North Carolina's largest school district that govern busing, academic calendars and student reassignments.
These are the hard issues causing heat and division in each of the four races:
Diversity: The Wake school district's policy of balancing students from different economic levels in schools, along with the student reassignments that entails.
Spending: The level of spending that's appropriate for a school district with nearly 140,000 students.
Year-round schools: The policy of assigning some students to year-round schools without their families' consent.
To see a PDF layout of the candidates' positions on these issues, click here.
Get the biggest news in your email or cellphone as it's happening. Sign up for breaking news alerts.
When a real estate deal doesn't turn out as planned, there are two things that you can be fairly certain will occur: Monday-morning quarterbacking and finger-pointing. 
The long drive to renovate Athens Drive High School's aging stadium made a crucial gain Tuesday courtesy of the Wake County school board. 
State Sen. Dan Blue of Raleigh said Tuesday that he is seriously considering seeking the Democratic nomination for governor. 
Unable to reach accord on a proposed $175 million public safety center, Raleigh leaders are weighing a new approach that would split the project into phases and put at least some emergency services outside downtown. Keep up with the latest political stories with our free daily e-mail newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox!
Subscribe to Politics - it's free!
Early voting is already taking place for Oct. 6 municipal and school board contests in Wake and Durham counties.
In Wake County, voters can cast early ballots from 8:30 a.m. until 5p.m. today through Friday at the Wake County Board of Elections office, 337 S. Salisbury St., Raleigh. That office will also be open from 10a.m. until 1 p.m. Saturday. In addition, voters can cast early ballots at Herbert C. Young Community Center, 101 Wilkinson Ave., Cary from 11a.m. until 7 p.m. Wednesday through Friday and from 10 a.m. until 1p.m. Saturday.
In Durham County, voters can cast early ballots at the Durham County Board of Elections office, 706 W. Corporation St., Durham from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. today through Friday and from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. Saturday.
To find out more about early voting, voter registration deadlines, polling places and elections in your home county, call or go to:
• Wake County: www.wakegov.com/elections/default.htm, 856-6240
• Durham County: www.co.durham.nc.us/elec, 560-0700
• Orange County: www.co.orange.nc.us/elect, 245-2350
• Johnston County: tinyurl.com/ybjnssz, 989-5095
CUSTOM FIT
For a personalized, one-stop list of all the elections in which you are eligible to vote, go to www.sboe.state.nc.us/VoterLookup.aspx.
