The Wake County School Board races are supposed to be non-partisan, but this year that’s anything but the case.

Both Republicans and Democrats are pouring support and money into the election.

Four of the nine school board seats are up for grabs and only one incumbent, Horace Tart is in the running.

The Republican-backed “change” candidates are against mandatory year round schools and the school system’s current socioeconomic diversity policy enacted in 2000.

If they sweep Tuesday’s election, they’ll have the new majority.

“The future of our children is not a partisan issue, but it’s a big concern to the Republican Party,” said local GOP volunteer Gail Marold.

She’s also part of the political action committee “Take Wake Schools Back”.

It’s an effort to shake-up the school board in favor of candidates supporting neighborhood schools.

Marold says the PAC has funded four candidates about $400 a piece.

“When you have strong beliefs you take a stand!”

The Wake County Republican Party has endorsed; Chris Malone (District 1), John Tedesco (District 2), Deborah Prickett (District 7), and Debra Goldman (District 9).

“The sense we have right now is that parents are very, very frustrated. They don’t feel like they are being listened to, they feel like the school board has taken arrogant positions. They’ve done things in spite of overwhelming opposition,” said Wake County GOP Chairman Claude Pop

So the local party has spent $50-thousand mostly on direct mail to get out the vote for their four endorsed candidates, according to Pope.

But don’t count out Democrats who are backing three candidates in support of the board’s current policies.

“We’re involved in a major way, in a way we’ve not been involved since my knowledge which goes back to 1978,” said Wake County Democratic Party Chairman Jack Nichols.

The Wake County Democratic Party has endorsed; Rita Rakestraw (District 1), Karen Simon (District 7), and Lois Nixon (District 9).

Nichols calls this school board race the most important one in thirty years, a race to keep socioeconomic diversity policies in place.

Lawmakers merged Raleigh city schools and Wake County Schools in 1976 to diversify the student population.

Then in the year 2000, the policy was changed to reflect family-incomes.

Nichols says Democrats want to keep progressive policies in place so they too are spending money on races where the candidate usually foots his or her own bill.

“We’ve done 60-thousand direct mail pieces which we’ve not done in the past. And we’ve been running a phone bank for the past four or five weeks.

Another first, both political groups have endorsed an unaffiliated candidate in the race; the Democratic Party supports Nixon, whereas the Republicans found Prickett.

Former School Board Chairwoman Rosa Gill, (D) said she worked hard to bring all political parties to the table, “Yes. I am very loyal to my party. But when I’m working with kids, I put the kids first. That’s the way we are supposed to do it.”

No matter if Democrats stay in control of the school board they admit Wake County’s growth will continue to present challenges for the school system.

RALEIGH, N.C.  – The top education leaders in North Carolina are meeting with Gov. Beverly Perdue for the first time since a state budget passed that required painful belt-tightening.

Perdue scheduled a meeting of the North Carolina Education Cabinet on Wednesday in Durham. The cabinet includes state schools Superintendent June Atkinson, State Board of Education Chairman Bill Harrison, UNC system President Erskine Bowles and community colleges chief Scott Ralls.

The General Assembly approved a budget signed by Perdue last month that required local school districts and UNC to find about $300 million in spending reductions this fiscal year. Less money means layoffs on some campuses and larger class sizes elsewhere.

Perdue has tried to revive the Education Cabinet, designed to provide better cooperation throughout public education.

HAMLET, N.C. – The U.S. agriculture and education secretaries are bringing their rural tour to North Carolina. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Education Secretary Arne Duncan will hold a forum on rural education in Hamlet to ask how their departments can help help their communities.

President Barack Obama said in June that Vilsack would lead a tour of the country’s rural communities, along with other top officials. He also has visited communities in Louisiana, Virginia,
Wisconsin, Michigan, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Georgia, Missouri and Colorado.

RALEIGH, N.C. – The State Board of Education Wednesday approved emergency rules implementing Gov. Bev Perdue’s directive to give public school systems greater flexibility to preserve teacher jobs and protect classrooms using federal recovery and state funds.

“I understand superintendents across North Carolina are facing tough budget decisions,” Perdue said. “My goal is to give them as many tools as possible to keep teachers in our classrooms, including the flexibility they need to maximize use of federal recovery funds.”

The policy allows public school systems more flexibility to shift state funds to make best use of resources from state, local and federal sources — including recovery money — for classroom instruction and activities.

It also institutes monthly reporting on types of jobs created and saved by public school systems using federal recovery funds.

Over the next two years, public school systems will directly receive $579 million in federal recovery funds and may be eligible for additional money from competitive grants.

RALEIGH, N.C. — Wake Education Partnership and local area chambers of commerce are pleased to announce a series of school board candidate debates in September for all contested Wake County school board seats.

The times and locations for each debate are listed below. The debates will last 90 minutes with the exception of District 2, which will take approximately two hours due to the number of announced candidates.

The Partnership will develop the questions and moderate the events. The chambers are providing the locations and making sure chamber members are aware of the opportunity to hear candidates’ views about public school issues.

The format and questions for each debate will be the same. The events are open to the public.

District 1
Date: Sept. 10
Time: 7 pm
Chamber of Commerce partners: Rolesville; Wendell; Knightdale; Zebulon
Location: Wake Technical Community College, Northern Campus, 6600 Louisburg Rd, Raleigh

District 2
Date: Sept. 1
Time: 7 pm
Chamber of Commerce partners: Garner; Fuquay-Varina
Location: Wake Technical Community College Main Campus, 9101 Fayetteville Rd., Raleigh

District 7
Date: Sept. 22
Time: 8 am
Chamber of Commerce partners: Morrisville; Raleigh
Location: Morrisville Chamber of Commerce, 260 Town Hall Dr., Morrisville

District 9
Date: Sept. 9
Time: Noon
Chamber of Commerce partner: Cary
Debate location: Cary Chamber of Commerce, 307 N. Academy St., Cary

RALEIGH, N.C. – The Take Wake Schools Back political action committee (PAC) has made its endorsement decisions for the October Wake County Board of Education races. The PAC endorses Chris Malone in District 1, John Tedesco in District 2, Deborah Prickett in District 7, and Debra Goldman in District 9.

All four candidates passionately advocate Take Wake Schools Back’s mission of bringing common sense back to the Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) on behalf of children and families; focusing on community schools, system accountability, flexibility, transparency and excellence.

“Our PAC is thrilled to support four dynamic candidates who have the right ideas and approaches for improving the quality of education in Wake County and better serving the needs of families and taxpayers,” said Dennis Berwyn, a founding member of Take Wake Schools Back. “District 2 was a difficult decision for our PAC, because we believe that Cathy Truitt also has the expertise, forward-thinking ideas and leadership qualities that the WCPSS desperately needs. We hope Dr. Truitt will be a valuable asset to the WCPSS in another capacity.”

Take Wake Schools Back is actively raising money to support Malone, Tedesco, Prickett and Goldman. The members of the PAC are also volunteering their time to help individual campaigns. Those who wish to support the PAC’s efforts can do so at www.takewakeschoolsback.com. The PAC also encourages people to volunteer to help the candidates in their campaigns, especially those who live in one of the four districts up for election.

A vacancy on the Wake County Board of Education will soon be filled.

Monday was the deadline for candidates to submit a their information to the Wake County Board of Education for the spot left open by the resignation of District 4 Representative Rosa Gill.

Gill resigned from the board on June 16, after being selected to serve in the North Carolina House of Representatives as the District 33 representative. She succeeds former Rep. Dan Blue, who was selected to serve out the remainder of the late Sen. Vernon Malone’s term in the N.C. Senate.

District 4 encompasses East Raleigh.

Wake officials said they have received four candidate applications. The board will discuss next steps during Tuesday’s board meeting and could take action in August.

RALEIGH, N.C.  – The Legislature has given its final approval to changes in North Carolina’s sex education curriculum in public schools for young teenagers.

The House narrowly agreed Thursday to the Senate version of the bill, which explains how all school systems must teach sex education in grades seven through nine. Gov. Beverly Perdue is expected to sign the bill into law.

All districts will have to teach an abstinence-until-marriage curriculum. But they’ll also have to provide information on contraceptives to prevent pregnancy and disease. Parents will be able to keep the children out of class when the more detailed information is taught.

Rep. Susan Fisher of Buncombe County said the bill still gives parents a choice in deciding what kind of sex education their children will receive.

RALEIGH, N.C. – Young motorboat drivers in North Carolina would be required to meet minimum boating safety education requirements in legislation approved by the House.

The bill approved Wednesday would obligate people under age 26 to complete an approved boating safety course or pass a test to operate a boat with a motor of at least ten horsepower.

There are many exceptions, including those who operate in state waters for less than 90 days, commercial fishermen and someone who is renting a boat.

Violators would face no monetary penalty except for court costs.

Supporters say the requirement hopefully will prevent accidents on the state’s waterways.

The bill now returns to the Senate, which must decide whether to accept the House changes.