A national labor union has stepped into the Wake County school board elections to endorse candidates and fling barbs at SEANC head Dana Cope.

UNITE HERE, which represents hospitality and textile workers, issued a press release today endorsing Rita Rakestraw in District 1 and Karen Simon in District 7 for their support of Wake's school diversity policy.

UNITE HERE said it felt "morally obligated to get involved" because Cope, executive director of the State Employees Association of N.C., and Ardis Watkins, legislative director of SEANC, had formed the Children's PAC to back candidates who support neighborhood schools. They said Cope and Watkins "have done their union and the union movement a real disservice."

UPDATED WITH COPE'S RESPONSE AT END OF POST 

The official death notice of the Children's PAC has been sent.

As was previously blogged about, the Children's PAC is shutting down and joining forces with the Wake Schools Community Alliance. This includes endorsing the same slate of candidates as the WSCA - Chris Malone in District 1, John Tedesco in District 2, Deborah Prickett in District 7 and Debra Goldman in District 9.

Now the same slate of candidates is being backed by the Children's PAC, the WSCA, Take Wake Schools Back and the Wake County Republican Party.

The Wake Schools Community Alliance apparently has a lot of money that can be spent in the final month before the school board election.

According to the WSCA's latest report, the group has raised $18,741 and still had $14,046 on hand as of Sept. 1.

Among the WSCA's latest contributors are Wake County Commissioner Tony Gurley, Apex Mayor Keith Weatherly, Holly Springs Town Councilman Vincent DeBenedetto and Morrisville Town Councilman Tom Murry.

You can soon say goodbye to the Children's PAC.

Leaders of the group have notified the Wake County Board of Elections that they're shutting down the PAC. Dana Cope, who founded the group following this year's contentious student reassignment fight, says they've decided to work with the Wake Schools Community Alliance.

Cope, who is also executive director of the State Employees Association of N.C., says they'll officially announce next week that they're endorsing the same school board candidates as the WSCA. He said individual members of the soon-to-be-former PAC have been and will continue to raise money for candidates.

The Wake Schools Community Alliance isn't wasting any time making an endorsement in the District 1 school board race.

The WSCA sent out a press release Tuesday evening announcing the endorsement of former Wake Forest Town Commissioner Chris Malone for the seat being vacated by Lori Millberg. Malone only announced his candidacy on Friday although rumors about his interest in the seat have been floating around the community for months.

This is the second time the WSCA has issued an endorsement within days of a candidate coming forward. Just two days after Deborah Prickett announced her candidacy in District 7, the group endorsed her.

You guys may want to say hello to Gerald Grant, who viewed the blog Thursday before speaking at Quail Ridge Books & Music on his new book "Hope and Despair in the American City: Why There Are No Bad Schools in Raleigh."

In front of around 100 people, Grant forcefully articulated his support for Wake's diversity policy. Citing a February article, he took Dana Cope, leader of the Children's PAC, to task for saying, "how dare they use my children for a social experiment that has gone wrong and needs replacing."

"The experiment has not gone wrong as Dana Cope says," Grant said. "It doesn't need to be replaced. It needs to be replicated."

Dana Cope is showing how serious he is about keeping his kids at Lacy Elementary School.

Cope has put his Inside-the-Beltline home for sale so he can look for a new place that's still in Lacy's attendance area. Cope's neighborhood, near Glen Eden Drive, is being reassigned to help reduce crowding at Lacy and reduce the percentage of low-income students at Stough Elementary.

Cope said he realizes he'll probably take a hit because he only purchased the home a year ago. Cope is chairman of the Children's PAC and executive director of the State Employees Association of N.C.

Are we reaching the point now that parental anger over reassignment could lead to major changes in the school system?

As noted in today's article, there are a whole lot of groups around who want to change the school system. Many of them will meet Thursday at 6 p.m. at Holly Springs Town Hall to see if they can find common ground.

"The more you impact, the more you'll alienate," said Kathleen Brennan, co-founder of Wake CARES. "At some point you'll reach the saturation point. Whether that's been reached remains to be seen."