The state Board of Elections has wrapped up its investigation of the Wake Schools Community Alliance's late mid-year campaign finance report.
The state Board says the WSCA did violate state statutes by not filing the mid-year report on time. But no action will be taken against the WSCA because of bad information given to the group from the Wake County Board of Elections.
Click here for a prior post with more info. (I meant to post this earlier in the week but got hung up on some other matters.)
The campaign finance reports are now in for school board candidates Chris Malone and John Tedesco.
The latest report for Malone shows he's raised $16,076 so far. That puts him behind District 1 opponent Rita Rakestraw, who has raised $22,839.54.
The new report shows donations from former Raleigh City Councilman Kieran Shanahan and the Wake Schools Community Alliance.
Here's more on the fight between school board candidate Cathy Truitt and school board member Ron Margiotta.
Debra McHenry has submitted a letter to the editor saying that there's a witness to Truitt's statements about Margiotta asking her if she'd support firing Supt. Del Burns. For background, McHenry unsuccessfully ran against Horace Tart for the District 2 school board seat in 2005.
Most of McHenry's letter is focused on attacking Margiotta, the Wake Schools Community Alliance and District 2 candidate John Tedesco. For instance, she says Margiotta told Truitt he has no vision for the children of the school system.
CORRECTED STATEMENT ABOUT MCHENRY HAVING ATTENDED MEETING
Pretty much everyone can agree that this year's school board elections offer critics one of their best chances in recent memory to make major gains.
But as noted in today's article, there's dispute over just where critics are coming from. Is it, as claimed by Wake Democratic Party Chairman Jack Nichols, a campaign being orchestrated by the Republicans to seize control of the school board?
"Other than the Wake Republican Party, are there other groups who have endorsed those candidates?" Nichols said. "No one."
The Wake Schools Community Alliance has raised more than $20,000 so far in its bid to elect school board candidates who are critics of the current diversity policy.
The latest report from the group shows that it has raised $24,034.44 and had $10,740.06 left over as of Sept. 21. That money could be useful in the final weeks of the campaign and in any runoffs.
Debra Goldman's school board campaign finance report is in but we're still waiting for several more.
According to an e-mail message from the state Board of Elections, the Wake Schools Community Alliance electronically transmitted a report late Monday afternoon. It hasn't been forwarded yet to the Wake County Board of Elections.
No updated reports are in yet from candidates Chris Malone or John Tedesco or the Take Wake Schools Back PAC. But as long as their updated reports were postmarked no later than Monday they're okay.
The Wake Schools Community Alliance has weighed in with campaign mailers for all for its endorsed school board candidates.
Each mailer mentions that only 54 percent of Wake's low-income students are graduating from high school and that the district didn't make Adequate Yearly progress under No Child Left Behind in 2008-09. (Wake is one of the state's 60 districts that are in school improvement status for not meeting NCLB for at least two years in a row.)
But most of the mailers also mention material specific to that individual district.
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
Did the Wake Education Partnership cross the line in its latest newsletter and inappropriately influence the school board elections?
As noted in today's article, that's alleged in the complaint filed late Friday with the state Board of Elections by Joe Ciulla. He alleges that the statements in the Partnership's newsletter, In Context, violate the group's non-profit status.
"It's far beyond their place to make false statements in support of their candidates," Ciulla said
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.
