Mark Elgart, president of AdvancED, repeatedly defended today his organization's contention that the Wake County school board's actions have created "a climate of uncertainty, suspicion, and mistrust throughout the community."

In an interview today on the Rick and Donna Martinez Show on WPTF, Donna Martinez asked Elgart whether he was referring to the whole board in the group's accreditation report. Donna Martinez, a columnist for the conservative Carolina Journal, has been an outspoken supporter of the board majority.

"It is the board's responsibility," Elgart responded. "We don't, we would not segment it and say it's only certain members. But collectively they're governing the system right now so they're all responsible for creating that type of atmosphere. But they're also in a position to change that."

The Wake Education Partnership isn't backing down from commenting on the issues in the school board races.

A little less than two weeks after a complaint was filed against the WEP, the group revisited the board races today in this week's In Context e-newsletter. This edition addresses remarks made by candidates about Wake's graduation rate, the size of Wake's bureaucracy and the achievement gap.

The Partnership addresses the complaint by saying "the newsletter will continue to cover current school topics in an effort to provide a fuller understanding of education issues."