In the two weeks that have marked Cathy Truitt's school board runoff election campaign, one challenge that she couldn't overcome was the inability to pick up the backing of people who supported the diversity policy.

Truitt had said she could be the swing vote against resegregation. But the Independent was the only diversity policy supporter to back her in the runoff, with columnist Bob Geary urging moderates and progressives to rally behind her.

But Truitt struck out with other groups. In particular, Wake NCAE chose not to make an endorsement in the runoff. The group had backed Horace Tart originally.

Cathy Truitt fired bullets at the new school board members, the Wake County Republican Party and the Wake Schools Community Alliance as she announced her decision to concede the District 2 race.

Truitt warned that the new board majority will move toward resegregated schools by cutting magnet programs and sending students to "pure neighborhood schools." She said the public needs to speak out now to get the board to back off from making the quick changes she said they're planning.

"I don't think people want the school system to be blown up," Truitt said at her press conference. "If people get involved now, they can have an impact."

For now at least, school board member Horace Tart isn't endorsing any of the candidates in the runoff election in District 2.

Tart said he's been approached by supporters of both John Tedesco and Cathy Truitt asking him for his endorsement. He said Wednesday he's staying "neutral" for now.

Reflecting on finishing third in the election, Tart said he couldn't compete with the anti-busing message of his two main opponents.

The Independent is backing Cathy Truitt in the runoff for the District 2 school board seat.

In the endorsement, the liberal weekly says neighborhood schools are going to happen after last week's election results. The Indy calls the runoff a question of "whether the new board will manage the shift to neighborhood schools carefully or precipitously, and without regard to the consequences for low-income neighborhoods."

There's a "he said, she said" dispute going on between District 1 school board candidate Debbie Vair and a NAACP official.

Ronald White, president of the South Central Wake NAACP, denies that he's endorsing Vair. But Vair says White gave her permission to list him as a supporter on her campaign web site.

They both can't be right on this issue.

The Coalition of Concerned Citizens for African American Children is formally making endorsements in Wake's school board races.

In a press release sent Sunday night, the CCCAAC said it was backing Rita Rakestraw, Horace Tart, Karen Simon and Lois Nixon because of their support for the diversity policy. The endorsements aren't a shock considering how the group's leader, Calla Wright, has warned that a victory by critics of the policy will lead to de-facto resegregation.

School board member Lori Millberg makes a direct pitch for for the candidates she's endorsing while taking a shot at others in a letter to the editor in today's newspaper.

In the letter, Millberg claims "much of the data published by some of the candidates" are "misinterpreted and in many cases are completely wrong." She argues that going to a system of neighborhood schools, such as in Charlotte-Mecklenburg, will be more expensive and less cost effective.

Millberg says that "to get the best value for your tax dollar, vote for Rita Rakestraw, Horace Tart, Karen Simon and Lois Nixon."

Millberg is echoing a position that's being repeatedly made, especially in the closing days of the campaign, that maintaining the diversity policy is cheaper financially.

The on again, off again press conference backing Wake's diversity policy has been scheduled for Monday

The "Friends of Diversity Press Conference," organized by school board member Keith Sutton, brings together several community leaders to talk about the importance of diversity in Wake's schools. Speakers will include Sutton, Knightdale Mayor Russell Killen and Capitol Braodcasting CEO Jim Goodmon.

Sutton is stressing that no school board candidate endorsements will be made. But you don't have to put two and two together to figure out who they'd like you to support.

Fifteen former Wake County school board members have signed a joint letter that supports the diversity policy and urges voters to pick school board candidates Lois Nixon, Rita Rakestraw, Karen Simon and Horace Tart.

In the letter, it argues that Wake has no "bad" schools and that the "opposite of diverse schools is unequal schools." It says that '"community schools' means that 'you' can't come into 'my' community.'"

The signers include recent former members such as Rosa Gill and Beverley Clark. But you also've got names such as Tom Oxholm, Carol Parker, Susan Parry, Wray Stephens and Judy Hoffman.

Called2Action, a conservative Christian group, has announced its school board candidate endorsements.

The group says it's backing Chris Malone in District 1, John Tedesco in District 2, Deborah Prickett in District 7 and Debra Goldman in District 9. But will Called2Action's support scare off some voters as liberal groups will likely try to take shots at the endorsements?