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.

Stimulus funds and dessert are among the items on today's Wake County school board table.

During the committee of the whole meeting that starts at 1 p.m., staff will update the board on how Wake is using federal stimulus money. Wake is still hearing from people who feel the district should more aggressively use stimulus money to save jobs.

The John Locke Foundation is pitching a new checklist for voters to use when deciding which school board candidates to vote for this year.

The 28-question checklist touches on a variety of areas. Some of the questions may have a more conservative bent, which isn't surprising considering who put the list together.

Here are some of the questions:

Carlene Lucas is officially resuming her campaign for the District 2 school board seat in Wake County.

In a press release today, Lucas calls her earlier decision to stop actively campaigning "a mistake." She says she has since received support and contributions that will allow her to continue as a candidate.

Lucas is still generally considered a long-shot among the five candidates on the District 2 ballot. She has less money than the other candidates and doesn't have the backing of any major groups.

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.

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.

It's safe to say that those who attended Wednesday's District 9 forum clearly saw a difference between the two school board candidates.

As noted in today's article by Thomas Goldsmith, Debra Goldman tried to portray Lois Nixon as "old-guard status quo." Goldman said Western Wake students have been "abused" by repeated reassignments and disputed the idea that more money is the solution to the district's problems.

While Nixon said the board needs to be "more family friendly," she generally praised the school district. Nixon noted how the school system had put Wake on many best places to live lists while also saying the district is underfunded.

Both candidates also disagreed over how much year-round schools has helped the district.

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.

Today's your chance to see Debra Goldman and Lois Nixon go one on one in a District 9 school board candidate forum.

The forum, sponsored by the Wake Education Partnership and the Cary Chamber of Commerce, will take place at noon at the chamber's offices, 307 N. Academy Street. The 90-minute forum is open to the public.

If you can't make it to Cary, NBC 17 is supposed to stream the forum live. Whether you can watch the forum after the event remains to be seen.