Open Letter to Superintendent Anthony Tata Wake County Superintendent of Schools

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE    February 23, 2012   For more information:           Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II, President, 919-394-8137                                             Atty. Jennifer W. Marsh, Acting Director, 919-682-4700   OPEN LETTER TO SUPERINTENDENT ANTHONY TATA   Dear Superintendent Tata:   You recently charged that two Wake School Board members had done something "unethical" through their involvement with the all-volunteer Great Schools In Wake grassroots organization.  In doing so, you also attacked the teachers, parents, and children to whom this organization devotes itself.   Great Schools in Wake is a community group that advocates diverse, well-funded, excellent schools managed by policies that are based in scholarly research.  Their approach is to offer programs to encourage public examination of educational issues and spend countless hours monitoring the conduct of the Wake County School Board and its staff, which includes the position of superintendent.  Putting in thousands of volunteer hours, GSIW was a critical partner in the black-white-brown coalition that came together to stop efforts by the extreme right wing movement that used Wake County students as pawns in an ideological crusade.   When Great Schools and our coalition kept the Wake County Public School System from stepping off a cliff into re-segregation and high-poverty schools, we felt a new breeze of hope blowing through the administration building.     The NAACP encouraged parents and children of color to get involved again and assured them that a new spirit of respect had replaced the hostility emanating from what had become an armed, bristling palace of disregard.  We put out the word through all our networks that children and parents of color were once again welcome to bring their hopes and difficulties to the administration building. Many of our members believed that a Fox News commentator would never have a sense of fairness.   Though there were many skeptics, we assured them that they would not be turned away.  The people running the show, we told them, no longer regarded them as "animals." as citizens were once referred to on camera by former chairman Ron Margiotta.     Ms. Evans and Ms. Kushner, along with several other members of the board, have been patient and generous with you. They went a long way–too far, we thought–to compromise by supporting your school assignment plan, even though it ignores the commitment to diversity and the promise not to go backwards to segregated schools that got them elected to the school board. They took considerable criticism, from us and even Great Schools in Wake, for their willingness to trust in your leadership, good faith and a plan that has already indicated will result in resegregation.   We remember well your slashing attacks on the patriotism and intelligence of our Commander in Chief President Obama, a man of color, as you left the Army.  Many NAACP members argued then that we should resist what they sensed to be your underdeveloped sense of social justice that would bode ill for children of color.  When we met with you, you assured us that your family tradition included a respect for diversity and spoke with pride about your father receiving an award from the NAACP. Despite concerns regarding your past association, many in our community because of their love for education and their desire to see progress in our educational system, chose to give you a chance.   We knew that that you had provided far-right Fox News commentaries and peddled Sarah Palin–no friend to public education–as "precisely the kind of leader America needs." Yet despite that baggage we and many others have withheld judgment and encouraged hope that your commitment to the success of the school system would outweigh ideological commitments. In the first year, however, your administration opened a new school, Walnut Creek Elementary, which is a high-poverty school with more than 90% minority, more than 50% underperforming and overcrowded from day one.  We were inundated with cries of "We told you so." And though critical of these actions, members of our community still tried to work with you.  Why now have you become so inflexible when others have been so willing to try to work with you sometimes against their best instincts and knowledge?    Your decision to assail Ms. Evans and Ms. Kushner in a personal tone with ridiculous charges of "unethical" behavior marks a low point in education leadership in Wake County.   Not only is that charge entirely groundless.  It also reveals a broad lack of self-awareness that heads toward hypocrisy. Beyond your misrepresentations that they are somehow controlled by a certain advocacy group, we have a deep concern regarding how you feel about their constitutional right of association and how you have a double standard for Tea-Party backed ideologues.   You clearly have not taken time to develop a consistent policy with respect to advocacy groups.  When you first came to Wake County as superintendent, you immediately met with the far-right Wake County Taxpayers Association, which continues to claim that President Obama is not an American, to denounce our "gangster government," and to claim that "sustainable development" is a concept derived from the "1977 Soviet Constitution."  Was that "unethical?"   John Tedesco, who calls himself "Tea Party Tedesco" and shares your Republican politics, is executive director of a right-wing educational advocacy group.  Why have you not demanded that he resign this position?   Three Republican members of the board are running for other offices and seeking campaign contributions from groups that oppose the very idea of public schools and from persons who own private schools and are seeking the privatization of our public schools, which would bring them rivers of money.  Why are you not calling attention to the "stranglehold" these advocacy groups have on these members?       It is clear that your concerns about advocacy groups are confined to groups whose political orientation is different from your own.    We believe in vigorous debate and even disagreement on ideas.  We neither require nor expect agreement on every issue from you or anyone else; in fact, we disagree occasionally with the people whose integrity you are assailing. However, your public attack and accusations against the school board members who employ you, along with your attempt to say who they can and cannot associate with based on your personal feelings, is not only an attempt to tread on their constitutional rights but also in many circles would be seen as a form of insubordination and grounds for immediate dismissal.   We sincerely hope in this season of Lent, you will reach out in a redemptive way to the board members that you personally attacked and to Great Schools In Wake and its partners.  We sincerely hope your explanation will be thorough and prompt. While you consider your next steps, we will consult with all our partners to determine their positions on what our next steps are. We intend to gather the community around these matters, inform Advanced Ed of this incident, as well as those handling our Title VI complaint at the Justice Department because we believe your conduct reveals a deep and unprofessional bias and a lack of fairness and willingness to hear all voices.   With every good wish,   Rev. Dr. William Barber, II President North Carolina State Conference of NAACP Branches   Dr. Timothy B. Tyson Education Chair North Carolina Conference of NAACP Branches Duke Divinity School Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University University of North Carolina  ###   Founded in 1909, the NAACP is the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organization. Its members throughout the United States and the world are the premier advocates for civil rights in their communities, conducting voter mobilization and monitoring equal opportunity in the public and private sectors.

Forward email NC NAACP | PO Box 335 | Durham | NC | 27702

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Wake County Public Schools

AdvancEd raises Wake schools’ accreditation status today – News & Observer

RALEIGH — AdvancEd, the national accreditation body that told Wake schools to improve its governance and overall climate last year or potentially lose its high schools’ accreditation, has improved the system’s rating from a warning to a higher level called "accreditation on advisement."

The Georgia-based body investigated the Wake schools’ system of governing based on a complaint from the state NAACP. Many of the complaints arose from a tumultuous period in 2010 in which a newly elected, Republican-backed board faced controversy over the way it handled meetings and changed policies. (More)

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Wake County Public Schools

Wake County Public Schools: Changes could delay student plan – News & Observer

Wake County schools Superintendent Tony Tata warned Friday that last-minute changes to the student assignment plan could delay implementation and affect families who’ve already made their school plans for this fall.

Members of the new Democratic majority on the school board raised concerns with the assignment plan this week, asking staff to study the effect of potential changes that would increase the diversity elements and change the feeder patterns. (More)

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Wake County Public Schools

Democrats propose changes to Wake student assignment plan – News & Observer

CARY — The new Democratic majority on the Wake County school board pushed today for changes today in the new student assignment plan as Republican board members and Superintendent Tony Tata warned about the disruptions that could come from the revisions.No formal decisions were made today but Democratic members asked staff to study changes such as making student achievement a higher priority than proximity when parents rank which schools they want to attend. (More)

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NAACP Welcomes New School Board and New Opportunity for Progress

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 6, 2011 For More Information:           Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II, President, 919-394-8137                                                 Mrs. Amina Turner, Executive Director, 919-682-4700                                                 Atty. Jennifer Marsh, Legal Redress Coordinator, 919-682-4700 NAACP WELCOMES NEW SCHOOL BOARD AND   NEW OPPORTUNITY FOR PROGRESS (DURHAM) – When the newly elected Wake County School Board meets for the first time this afternoon, they will have new tools and encouragement from the federal government regarding their ability to consider race and socio-economic status in preventing high-poverty, racially-identifiable schools, which research has proven has a negative impact on resources and student achievement. The US Departments of Education and Justice issued a historic letter last week that replaced a Bush-era resegregationist position on diversity in school assignment policies and affirmed what the North Carolina NAACP has argued all along: Local school boards have the constitutional and legal right to ensure diverse education for all children. Indeed, based on research and the lessons from history, they must do so if they want to provide a constitutional, high quality and well-funded public education for all students. Here is an excerpt from the letter: The United States Department of Education (ED) and the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) (collectively, the Departments) are issuing this guidance to explain how, consistent with existing law, elementary and secondary schools can voluntarily consider race to further compelling interests in achieving diversity and avoiding racial isolation. …Providing students with diverse, inclusive educational opportunities from an early age is crucial to achieving the nation’s educational and civic goals…Conversely, where schools lack a diverse student body or are racially isolated (i.e., are composed overwhelmingly of students of one race), they may fail to provide the full panoply of benefits that K-12 schools can offer. The academic achievement of students at racially isolated schools often lags behind that of their peers at more diverse schools.  Racially isolated schools often have fewer effective teachers, higher teacher turnover rates, less rigorous curricular resources (e.g., college preparatory courses), and inferior facilities and other educational resources.  Reducing racial isolation in schools is also important because students who are not exposed to racial diversity in school often lack other opportunities to interact with students from different racial backgrounds. For all these reasons, the Departments recognize, as has a majority of Justices on the Supreme Court, the compelling interests that K-12 schools have in obtaining the benefits that flow from achieving a diverse student body and avoiding racial isolation. The full document can be accessed here: http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2011/December/11-ag-1569.html The NAACP’s position has remained consistent regardless of who is on the school board. 1.       Any new plan that is implemented needs to surpass the nationally recognized and researched Gold Standard plan that existed prior to 2010. For any new student assignment plan to be successful there should be an analysis based on metrics, data and research that shows empirically why what is being implemented is better than the previous diversity based socio-economic plan that had proven results for student achievement. We have always said that any plan, from time to time, needs to be tweaked to meet ongoing challenges such as the growth of the school system. (For more information, please refer to "Hope and Despair in the American City: Why There are No Bad Schools in Raleigh" by Gerald Grant.) 2.       The NAACP has consistently maintained that research, the law and the lessons of history all tell us that diversity and resources are key and undeniable components of any student assignment plan that is attempting to promote student achievement. The former majority dismissed this research for their own narrow political ideology. They attempted to distort the record and characterize diversity as a cause for failure and present neighborhood schools and proximity as the only solutions. We know this is simply not the truth. Superintendent Tata, in our meetings, has admitted that certain diversity standards had to be in place within the framework of his new plan. By removing diversity from the official policy, his staff was disallowed from factoring it in. 3.       The NAACP has consistently advocated for a comprehensive agenda to promote student achievement and guarantee all children a constitutional, high quality, well-funded, diverse education. The NAACP is guided by eight fundamental principles for healthy schools and strong public education: Stop resegregation and promote diversity Provide equity in funding for all schools Provide high quality teachers and smaller classrooms Provide high quality leadership teams Provide high quality facilities Focus on math, science, reading and history Support parental and community involvement Address unjust and disproportionate suspensions and reduce dropout rates and increase graduation rates among African-American students 4.       We continue to have the same questions about Superintendent Tata’s new student assignment plan that we raised with him when we met with him on July 7, 2011. We are still waiting for his answers to these questions and concerns:    The percentage goals of minority, poor and low-performing students in each school have not been clarified. The seat availability for parents who choose to send their students to magnet and so called "achievement choice" schools is not clear. We do not know how the school systems plans to address the issue of access for parents who may not have access to the necessary resources to wade through the online process to make choices for their children’s school assignment. There is still no urban school district operating a so-called "choice" plan that has maintained greater success than the socio-economic diversity and Healthy Schools assignment plan that irrefutably made Wake County a national model for student achievement. There is still no data or grid to show how the current recommended plan will decrease or increase the number of racially-identifiable, high-poverty schools in Wake County. There is still no analysis that truly shows that the partial plans presented thus far are empirically better than the socio-economic diversity/Healthy Schools assignment plan. It is still not clear whether the Wake County School System administration recognizes and understands that the high-poverty schools that came to be under the old plan were not a result of the plan but rather a result of unprecedented growth in numbers of students in Wake County. The new majority seems to be willing to review and analyze the current plan. We hope that they will be use the standards of research, the law and lessons of history as opposed to a narrow-minded, regressive, political ideology that undermines public education rather than uplifting public education. On November 8, after the election of the current school board majority, the NC NAACP released the following statement: "Once again, Blacks, Whites, Latinos, Asians, Native Americans, old and young, rich and poor, Republicans and Democrats have all said, "We want to go forward and not backwards." It is our great hope that after these elections, the single focus of Wake County School Board is to set an example not only for North Carolina but for the nation that all children deserve a high quality, constitutional, well-funded and diverse public education." We remain hopeful and optimistic for the new direction of the new Wake County School Board. ### Founded in 1909, the NAACP is the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organization. Its members throughout the United States and the world are the premier advocates for civil rights in their communities, conducting voter mobilization and monitoring equal opportunity in the public and private sectors.

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Wake County Public Schools

Hill elected chairman as Wake school board returns to Democratic control – Source: News & Observer

CARY — Democrats retook control of the Wake County school board today, taking the top two leadership positions and removing Republican John Tedesco from the vice chairman’s position.

Democrat Kevin Hill was elected chairman, receiving five of the nine board votes to serve until June. The new Democratic majority also exerted its muscle by electing Keith Sutton as vice chairman, getting five votes.

"It’s time to get to work," Hill said. (More)

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Wake County Public Schools

Questioning who is to blame for Walnut Creek Elementary’s overcrowding – Source: News & Observer

Two different pictures are emerging about the situation taking place at the new Walnut Creek Elementary School.

As noted in today’s article, Wake County Schools Superintendent Tony Tata acknowledged that an enrollment cap is needed at Walnut Creek to deal with overcrowding. But Tata, pointing to the additional resources provided to the school, says that Walnut Creek is "on the right track." (Read more)

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Wake County Public Schools

Wake County Public Schools – District 3 runoff results generate local, national media hits

District 3 runoff results generate local, national media hits

The outcome of Tuesday’s runoff election between Kevin Hill and Heather Losurdo is making news locally and nationally. Here’s a list of stories and point-of-view pieces thus far:

 

Dems regain control of school board (Raleigh Public Record)

Hill beats Losurdo in Wake schools race (The Independent)

Wake school board tilts back toward sanity (The Progressive Pulse)

Democrats retake Wake school board (Southern Political Report)

A big loss for Art Pope in NC school resegregation fight (Facing South)

Wake County, N.C., board changes political majority (Education Week)

Battleground North Carolina – Democrats sweep local elections (Huffington Post)

NC voters put down threat of resegregation of county schools (MSNBC)

Associated Press:

Democratic-aligned candidates finish sweep of 5 open Wake school seats in closely watched race (The Republic / Columbus, IN)

Democrats complete sweep of Wake school seats (Blue Ridge Now, Hendersonville)

 

Martinez encourages minority families to leave WCPSS…

On WPTF’s Rick and Donna Martinez show yesterday, host Rick Martinez said "…the education reformers have been booted out of office" and that parents of black and Hispanic children should leave WCPSS if they have the means to do so. Read more on the WakeEd blog.

 

…and LuMaye claims District 3 results will require more prisons

WPTF’s Bill LuMaye interviewed Heather Losurdo during his show yesterday. LuMaye falsely claims that the Department of Corrections uses fourth grade reading scores to project the number of prison beds that may be needed. Later, Losurdo recommended that all News & Observer subscribers cancel their subscriptions. For a summary of the discussion, refer to the WakeEd blog.

 

In the News

Photos show more victims of gym teacher

 

LTEs/opinion

Will separate and unequal, 2.0 just become 3.0?

Changes, man, at schools’ HQ

Sticking with choice

Hill, hear this

 

Upcoming meetings / events

Mon., Nov. 14

– 2PM, Parent Information Session, Centro para Familias Hispanas, 2013 N. Raleigh Boulevard, Raleigh

– 6:30PM, Parent Information Session, St. Mark’s United Methodist Preschool, 4801 Six Forks Road, Raleigh

 

Thurs., Nov. 17

– 6:30PM, Parent Information Session, Durant Road Elementary School, 9901 Durrant Road, Raleigh

– 6:30PM, Parent Information Session, Knightdale Town Hall, 950 Steeple Square Court, Knightdale

 

Sun., Nov. 20, 3:30PM, Parent Information Session (Spanish-only session), St. Raphael Church, 5801 Falls of Neuse Road, Raleigh

 

Fri., Dec. 1, 6:30PM, Parent Information Session, West Regional Library, 4000 Louis Stephens Drive, Cary

 

Fri., Dec. 2, 6:30PM, Parent Information Session, Islamic Association of Raleigh , 808 Atwater Street , Raleigh

 

Thurs., Dec. 8

– 6:30PM, Parent Information Session, Cameron Village Library, Room 202, Raleigh (AG-Specific Session)

– 6:30PM, Parent Information Session, Wake Forest United Methodist Church Family Life Center, 905 S. Main Street, Wake Forest

 

Sun., Dec. 11, 2PM, Parent Information Session, First Korean Baptist Church , 8905 Ray Road , Raleigh

 

Tues., Dec. 13, 6:30PM, Parent Information Session, St. Matthew’s Church, 1629 Bennett Street, Raleigh

 

 

Thanks for staying engaged with WCPSS.

Hello! Here is today’s BOE news.

 

District 3 runoff results generate local, national media hits

The outcome of Tuesday’s runoff election between Kevin Hill and Heather Losurdo is making news locally and nationally. Here’s a list of stories and point-of-view pieces thus far:

 

Dems regain control of school board (Raleigh Public Record)

Hill beats Losurdo in Wake schools race (The Independent)

Wake school board tilts back toward sanity (The Progressive Pulse)

Democrats retake Wake school board (Southern Political Report)

A big loss for Art Pope in NC school resegregation fight (Facing South)

Wake County, N.C., board changes political majority (Education Week)

Battleground North Carolina – Democrats sweep local elections (Huffington Post)

NC voters put down threat of resegregation of county schools (MSNBC)

Associated Press:

Democratic-aligned candidates finish sweep of 5 open Wake school seats in closely watched race (The Republic / Columbus, IN)

Democrats complete sweep of Wake school seats (Blue Ridge Now, Hendersonville)

 

Martinez encourages minority families to leave WCPSS…

On WPTF’s Rick and Donna Martinez show yesterday, host Rick Martinez said "…the education reformers have been booted out of office" and that parents of black and Hispanic children should leave WCPSS if they have the means to do so. Read more on the WakeEd blog.

 

…and LuMaye claims District 3 results will require more prisons

WPTF’s Bill LuMaye interviewed Heather Losurdo during his show yesterday. LuMaye falsely claims that the Department of Corrections uses fourth grade reading scores to project the number of prison beds that may be needed. Later, Losurdo recommended that all News & Observer subscribers cancel their subscriptions. For a summary of the discussion, refer to the WakeEd blog.

 

In the News

Photos show more victims of gym teacher

 

LTEs/opinion

Will separate and unequal, 2.0 just become 3.0?

Changes, man, at schools’ HQ

Sticking with choice

Hill, hear this

 

Upcoming meetings / events

Mon., Nov. 14

– 2PM, Parent Information Session, Centro para Familias Hispanas, 2013 N. Raleigh Boulevard, Raleigh

– 6:30PM, Parent Information Session, St. Mark’s United Methodist Preschool, 4801 Six Forks Road, Raleigh

 

Thurs., Nov. 17

– 6:30PM, Parent Information Session, Durant Road Elementary School, 9901 Durrant Road, Raleigh

– 6:30PM, Parent Information Session, Knightdale Town Hall, 950 Steeple Square Court, Knightdale

 

Sun., Nov. 20, 3:30PM, Parent Information Session (Spanish-only session), St. Raphael Church, 5801 Falls of Neuse Road, Raleigh

 

Fri., Dec. 1, 6:30PM, Parent Information Session, West Regional Library, 4000 Louis Stephens Drive, Cary

 

Fri., Dec. 2, 6:30PM, Parent Information Session, Islamic Association of Raleigh , 808 Atwater Street , Raleigh

 

Thurs., Dec. 8

– 6:30PM, Parent Information Session, Cameron Village Library, Room 202, Raleigh (AG-Specific Session)

– 6:30PM, Parent Information Session, Wake Forest United Methodist Church Family Life Center, 905 S. Main Street, Wake Forest

 

Sun., Dec. 11, 2PM, Parent Information Session, First Korean Baptist Church , 8905 Ray Road , Raleigh

 

Tues., Dec. 13, 6:30PM, Parent Information Session, St. Matthew’s Church, 1629 Bennett Street, Raleigh

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Wake County Public Schools

Wake County Public Schools – The Rachel Maddow Show

The Wake County Public Schools Board of Education election was being watched nationally. Click on The Rachel Maddow Show for more.

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Wake County Public Schools

ONCE AGAIN, TONIGHT CAN MARK THE BEGINNING OF THE POLITICS OF TOMORROW AND THE END OF THE MEAN, DIVISIVE, POLITICS OF YESTERDAY

ONCE AGAIN, TONIGHT CAN MARK THE BEGINNING OF THE POLITICS OF TOMORROW AND THE END OF THE MEAN, DIVISIVE, POLITICS OF YESTERDAY    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 8, 2011   For More Information:   Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II, President, 919-394-8137                                       Atty. Jennifer Marsh, Legal Redress Coordinator, jwmarsh1@gmail.com    Statement by Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II, President of the North Carolina NAACP on behalf of all of our branches and the 110+ partners in the HKonJ People’s Assembly Coalition    Once again, tonight marks a major step forward on the Highway of Justice and Love. Once again, children of all colors, we pray, can feel welcome in their schools and at their School Board. There are thousands of children today in Wake County whose only hope in escaping poverty is in our public schools. Their only hope is a high quality, constitutional, well-funded, diverse public education. Their only hope is strong schools with high student achievement, which require diversity and resources. Their only hope is a loving teacher, who nurtures the spark in them in the early grades, who spends some moments with them on the playground, expanding their world, igniting their interest in learning, and telling them they are as smart and as good as any other child and they can follow their dreams. Children who, though no one in the family ever went to college, understand that opportunities for higher education are open to them just as they are for those who come from college educated families. Let us welcome all children into our fine public school system.   Once again, Blacks, Whites, Latinos, Asians, Native Americans, old and young, rich and poor, Republicans and Democrats have all said, "We want to go forward and not backwards." It is our great hope that after these elections, the single focus of Wake County School Board is to set an example not only for North Carolina but for the nation that all children deserve a high quality, constitutional, well-funded and diverse public education.   Both tonight and on October 11, 2011, the voices of parents, grandparents, teachers, students and community members rejected candidates who support regressive public policy that leads to resegregation of our public schools. Their commitment speaks clearly to the rest of North Carolina, but also to the national debate over public education reform, which must have diversity and resources at the center. Tonight, we hope, marks a shift in the public policy of the Wake County School Board that will work toward the Gold Standard student assignment plan that builds upon past successes and commitments to diversity that made Wake County schools great, rather than destroy the progress we had made.   If we are able to unify and make a commitment to these principles, our children, our community and our future will be better because of our efforts.   We in the NAACP believe all educational decisions must be guided by the standards of the law with respect to civil rights, the data of sound research, which continually proves that diversity and resources are key components to student achievement, and the lessons of history that remind us we must go forward and not backwards.   We know what works if we want to provide a high quality education for every child. From the beginning, the NAACP has noted eight fundamental principles that must guide any real desire to have healthy schools and strong public education: Stop resegregation and promote diversity Provide equity in funding for all schools Provide high quality teachers and smaller classrooms Provide high quality leadership teams Provide high quality facilities Focus on math, science, reading and history Support parental and community involvement Address unjust and disproportionate suspensions, reduce dropout rates and increase graduation rates among African-American students  The NAACP believes that Truth will win out; that healing the breach in God’s family is difficult, but the results are worth the struggle and the bad times; and we will win. Tonight we believe the beginning of change in the power configuration of the school board is a small victory for people of goodwill in the battle to keep pushing forward for the common good.   ###

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Wake County Public Schools

Breaking News – Kevin Hill has beaten Heather Losurdo in the District 3 race for Wake School Board

Kevin Hill has beaten Heather Losurdo in the District 3 race for Wake School Board. He has 10,672 votes and she has 9,740.

Go to NBC17.com for the very latest.

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Wake County Public Schools

Wake County School Board Member “THE TEDESCO PICTURES I MISSED” –Source: The Cash Roc

I want to thank Jeffrey Wotus, a constant, yet unhinged critic of mine, for digging up these new John Tedesco pictures from when Tedesco served as Borough Administrator for the small municipality of Highlands, NJ from 2000-2002. (Read more)

Response: You must see these pictures. Curmilus Dancy II – The Political Agitator

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A Must Read – ANSWERING JOHN TEDESCO’S WAKEED BLOG RESPONSE PART 1 – Source: The Cash Rock

Wake County Public Schools

Wake County – History of turmoil – Source: The News & Observer

Your Oct. 25 front-page article about the District 3 runoff race leaves a very mistaken impression with the paragraph two phrase, "After two years of protests and partisan votes and bickering and budget woes …"

The protests and bickering didn’t begin two years ago. They were already vehement during my opponent Kevin Hills’ term as chairman, when real parents with real concerns about their children’s education rose up to demand a more responsive and less arrogant school board. As The N&O itself reported in July, 2007 [prior to Hill’s election], "Angry parents have picketed the Wake County school system, packed school board meetings and sued the system to protest year-round schools and student reassignment." (Read more)

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Wake County Public Schools

A Must Read – ANSWERING JOHN TEDESCO’S WAKEED BLOG RESPONSE PART 1 – Source: The Cash Rock

      I have been reading, with great interest and equal amusement, Wake School Board Vice Chairman John Tedesco’s response to my story, "“Chairman” Tedesco An Issue in District 3 Wake School Board Race." (Read more)

Response: This article is too damn good but make sure you read other articles as well. Curmilus Dancy II – The Political Agitator

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Wake County Public Schools

Wake schools runoff attracts big-time attention and money – Source: News & Observer

RALEIGH — The Strategy Group, a Washington political consulting firm, has made a name for itself by designing effective mailings to aid Democratic candidates. Among its clientele: President Barack Obama, former Chicago Mayor Richard Daley and current Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. (Read more)

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Wake County Public Schools