I took a swipe at the N&O for its coverage of the firing of Tony Tata the other day and I stand by my criticism. If I’m going to point out the bad, though, it’s only fair that I should also praise the good.

Editorial page editor Steve Ford took up the issue in his column today and does so with a fairer, far more deft touch than most anything else I’ve read in the paper. Ford’s sober consideration of the issue was what I’d been looking for from the newspaper.

That I can say this even while not necessarily buying into every point he makes shows Ford struck the right balance. More of this, please.

Campaign consultant Perry Woods, who often pops up to assist Democratic candidates hereabouts, does his best to rebut the notion that the firing of Wake County school superintendent Tony Tata was an exercise in partisanship.

In a letter that we ran yesterday, Woods – noting he had advised all five of the Democrats who won seats on the school board last fall and who now have told Tata to make himself scarce – said that from a partisan political standpoint, the timing was wrong.

via Ford: The battle Tata couldn't win – Ford – NewsObserver.com.