Can Wake school board candidates overcome a shoestring budget to still win?

History is not on the side of Debbie Vair in District 1 and Chris Augustine and Carlene Lucas in District 2. All three have filed reports indicating they plan to raise and spend less than $3,000.

Vair and Lucas, who are both still actively campaigning, are running against opponents who are not under similar funding constraints.

District 2 school board candidate John Tedesco has fired back at opponent Cathy Truitt for her recent attack ads accusing him of being a pawn of Ron Margiotta and Western Wake.

In a wide-ranging interview in this week's Garner Citizen, Tedesco called Truitt "divisive" and a "hypocrite." He claims that Truitt, should she be elected, will become "marginalized and ineffective" because of the ads.

Thursday night's District 1 school board debate was interesting to say the least.

As noted in today's article, the three candidates took very strong stands on the diversity policy. They also took time to take some personal shots at  one another.

Rita Rakestraw repeatedly warned that electing either Chris Malone or Debbie Vair would result in taxes having to be raised to pay for the resulting increase in the number of high-poverty, neighborhood schools.

You've got a member of a George Soros-backed group and a Carolina Hurricanes hockey player among the donors in the District 1 Wake school board race.

Rita Rakestraw's donors include Gene Guerrero, a senior policy analyst for the Open Society Institute, who gave $250. The institute's founder and president is liberal billionaire George Soros, who is not exactly a favorite of conservatives.

Chris Malone has got some star power, namely a $250 contribution from Rod Brind'Amour, the team captain for the Hurricanes. Brind'Amour's ex-wife lives just outside Wake Forest with their three young children.

UPDATE

The Board of Elections says Karen Simon doesn't have to file until Sept. 28 because she hasn't spent more than $3,000 yet.

Tonight's forum for the District 1 school board candidates has the potential to be a lively event.

You should see clear contrasts between Chris Malone, Rita Rakestraw and Debbie Vair on where they stand on the issues. At the same time, you'll also probably see Malone and Vair trying to distinguish themselves from each other as they try to win votes of board critics.

Rakestraw will likely be making a pitch to supporters of current board policies.

The school district has got legitimate reason to worry whether county commissioners could scuttle the Forest Ridge High project by not approving any money to pay for road improvements.

School administrators have estimated that it could take another $5.7 million from the commissioners to fund state-mandated road improvements around Forest Ridge High, which is scheduled to open in 2012.

But at today's meeting, a majority of the commissioners complained about the rising cost of the road work. In particular, complaints came from Lindy Brown and Joe Bryan, who had both flipped their votes last year to approve purchasing the site.

UPDATE

Click here for the article from Gabe Starosta.

Some prominent local officials are putting their money into this fall's school board races.

Campaign finance reports filed last month show a local who's who of Democrats and left-leaning unaffiliated voters among the donors for school board candidates Rita Rakestraw and Lois Nixon. Based on the report, both candidates seem to have deeper war chests right now than their opponents.

The latest reports from most candidats show relaively small amounts raised so far. The exceptions were Rakestraw, Nixon and Horace Tart.

The Forest Ridge High School road improvements have become a campaign issue in the District 1 school board race.

Both Debbie Vair and Chris Malone, the two opposition candidates in District 1, are harshly critical of the fact that school staff are estimating it will cost $7.4 million to pay for road improvements around Forest Ridge High. As noted in today's article, the school board may need county commissioners to provide $5.7 million.

No response yet from Rita Rakestraw on the situation. She's the District 1 candidate most supportive of the current school board.

UPDATE

Rakestraw's response is now at the end of the post. 

Take Wake Schools Back and Wake Schools Community Alliance are on the same page when it comes to endorsements for school board candidates.

Both groups are backing Chris Malone in District 1, John Tedesco in District 2, Deborah Prickett in District 7 and Debra Goldman in District 9. Take Wake Schools Back announced its endorsements today while WSCA made them before the filing period ended last month.

The one crack in the unified opposition will likely be closed up next week when the leadership of the Wake County Republican Party revises its endorsements.

Are there too many critics vying for seats on the school board this fall?

As noted in today's article, you've got multiple critics running in all four board seats. In contrast, supporters of board policies have largely been able to keep it to one candidate in each race.

All these extra candidates, especially the critics, could make it easier for board supporters to retain control this year.