RALEIGH - Wake County Superintendent Tony Tata gave strong signals that he will recommend that the school board adopt a plan that allows parents to choose where students go to school.

Tata said at his weekly news conference last week that he will ask the school board to approve on June 21 a new student assignment model to replace the now discarded socioeconomic-diversity policy. While Tata didn't say which of the two plans under review that he'll recommend, he repeatedly praised the controlled-choice "blue plan" as being better than the "green plan," which would assign schools based on address.

"In my view it finds that middle ground where parents have the primary say and the system then has the ability to help efficiently use the resources," Tata said of the blue plan.

Tata also said the blue plan would provide more stability against students being involuntarily reassigned.

Once the concept is approved, Tata said, administrators would ask for board approval for the final assignment options by October.

Tata also said the district has sample middle school and high school options now posted online for both plans. With that information available, he said, the district will invite parents to participate in an online simulation from June 13 to June 20 about what schools they would pick under the blue plan.

Tata said the district will invite community groups to spread the message about this "test drive" to get as many parents as possible to participate. School officials say that so far they've received far more responses from parents in western Wake than eastern Wake.

Public comments will be taken through June 12. As of Friday morning, school officials say they've received 358 online comments in support of the blue plan compared to 124 in favor of the green plan.

The Great Schools in Wake Coalition, a group that supports the old diversity policy, has come out in favor of the green plan, promoting its academic benefits and the guarantee of a base assignment.

Great Schools in Wake has asked whether school officials are biased in favor of the blue plan. "There is no bias," Tata said Friday. "There is only objective analysis."