WakeEd

The WakeEd blog is devoted to discussing and answering questions about the major issues facing the Wake County school system. How much will the new Democratic majority on the school board do to undo the changes made by Republicans since 2009? Will the new student assignment plan be a hybrid of the last two models or primarily be a return to the use of busing for diversity? Who will replace Tony Tata as the new superintendent of the state's largest district? How will voters react to a likely request in 2013 to borrow potentially more than $1 billion to build and renovate schools?

WakeEd is maintained by The News & Observer's Wake schools reporter, T. Keung Hui. While Keung posts information and analysis on the issues, keep us posted on your suggestions, questions, tips and what you're doing to cope with the changes in Wake's schools.

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John Tedesco looking for a job

Submitted by KeungHui on 12/16/2010 - 10:00

Wake County school board member John Tedesco is hunting for a job right now to help pay the bills.

Tedesco has been out of work since he announced April 2 that he was resigning his job at Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Triangle "to commit full time over the next few months to my role as a member of the Wake County Board of Education."

The fact that Tedesco has been unemployed has led to questions from his critics about how he's getting by financially, with some suggesting nefarious dealings. But Tedesco said he's gotten by the past eight months with some careful budgeting and use of his life savings.

"People just don't want to believe that you'd use your life savings to do good to help the community," Tedesco said. "I can sleep at night with a clear conscience. I've never taken a buck that didn't come from publicly known sources."

Tedesco said he's gotten by from using the $18,000 in savings he built up the past several years. He said he wasn't as concerned about using his savings because, at age 35, he felt he could build them back up again.

Tedesco said he's also used a $5,000 federal tax refund and his $1,236.50 a month stipend as a school board member.

(For those who are curious, that means Wake school board members get a total of $14,838 a year. The board chair gets a monthly stipend of $1,511.79, which works out to $18,141.48 a year, )

Plus, Tedesco said he's cut back on his spending this year.

But Tedesco said things are starting to get tight now so he's been sending out resumes. He said part of the challenge is finding jobs that won't be a conflict of interest with his work on the school board. Most of his background has been in fundraising, especially for children's groups, and as a town manager.

At least once a week, someone and usually multiple people will call or e-mail me asking how Tedesco can possibly still be making a living. You can probably guess who these critics of Tedesco think is helping him pay the bills.

Comments

...

Thu, 12/16/2010 - 12:46 — Sideburns

I would be more interested in knowing the "nefarious dealings" of Debra Goldman. But that's just me.

the "nefarious dealings" of Debra Goldman

Thu, 12/16/2010 - 13:25 — user12345

Could Debra be JT's sugar mommy? I know JT and Ron went to DG for cookies before which JT denied. Could there be more?

How would that work? Debra

Tue, 12/21/2010 - 15:46 — woodstock

How would that work? Debra Goldam does not have a job either... I know she was a volunteer fireperson once, but I don't that that pays too well. Are you suggesting that Debra's current husband is paying Tedesco? I really doubt that. Were you trying to be funny and it just came out stupid?

I guess Art does not pay you

Tue, 12/21/2010 - 17:07 — user12345

I guess Art does not pay you to have a sense of humor.

I laugh at funny stuff, so

Tue, 12/21/2010 - 17:41 — woodstock

I laugh at funny stuff, so what's your point.

Frankly, I don't know what Artie pays me for, I just keep getting these bags of money...

I think you and I could come

Thu, 12/16/2010 - 14:08 — HJ2ss2

I think you and I could come up with a really great scenario but it probably woundn't be appropriate for this blog.

I think it would be good for

Thu, 12/16/2010 - 11:51 — user12345

I think it would be good for JT to get a job. Changing such a large school system won't happen over night. If the original plan was to skip public input, by pass compromise, and vote every thing 5-4 to expedite change I think that is not going to work now. So, JT should take some time to work and allow the public input / compromise process time to work out best the solution.

Unfortunate...

Thu, 12/16/2010 - 11:31 — Bob_Sconce

It took a lot of guts for John to step down from his last job. Whether you agree with his views or not, it's clear that he puts a lot of work and passion into his work on the school board. This is a tough job market and he deserves more than snide comments from the likes of daisyduke or others who, paranoidly, think he's a puppet for conservative boogeymen.

John -- if you're reading, I'll keep an eye out.

Plug for JT

Thu, 12/16/2010 - 20:15 — Solon77

If you are going to plug for JT, should be familiar with his resume

Elected to the nine member board that provides leadership, governance, and oversight to the largest school district in the state and 17th largest in America. Provide budget review, analysis, and authorization of a $1.4 billion dollar system with 163 facilities and 18,000 employees serving 144,000 children. Serve as a community liaison throughout the county and direct representative to a large constituency in a defined district.

Maintain leadership roles on several board committees.
• Chairman of the Student Assignment Committee leading a 12 member body in the strategic redevelopment of the district’s assignment model. This will provide significant impact and redesign of the systems logistical operations, capacity management, growth & planning, fleet management, consumer satisfaction, and quality educational opportunities for all.
• Chairman of the Economically Disadvantage Child Task Force leading a 40 member collaboration of leaders from broad sectors of the community; such as city and county government officials, along with church, business, and non-profit leaders. Building targeted partnerships, addressing policy and systemic reform, and enhancing support for our community’s most vulnerable children to close achievement gaps, reduce suspension rates, and increase graduation rates.

Uh...

Thu, 12/16/2010 - 21:58 — Bob_Sconce

Where did you get that? Don't you consider it to be an invasion of privacy?

Invasion of Privacy ?

Thu, 12/16/2010 - 22:42 — Solon77

Invasion of privacy ? Hardly

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/john-tedesco/14/828/1A

The things people put on the

Fri, 12/17/2010 - 14:24 — zande

The things people put on the internet these days.........

It is very unfortunate indeed

Thu, 12/16/2010 - 12:43 — FSandYOU

I'm sure it would make a few dozen Brandon and Barbir supporters happy, but if I had put up with all JT has put with in this last year, when I also believe his heart was and is in the right place, I would tell this board to shove it and be done with that soap opera. This system has no interest in changing. When you are constantly infiltrated from the opposing team, obstructed by a few loud mouths who constantly crave attention and get your defenseless car stomped on, there has to come a point when you just say screw it.

and sometimes you

Thu, 12/16/2010 - 14:26 — HJ2ss2

and sometimes you say....."Can they all be idiots"? When they can't destroy you based on your performance, they go for the personal attack. Like saying they "don't believe a word you say". It's pretty pathetic to see such desperation, although it does get the desired results. The system remains the same and secrets (that would likely destroy their careers) are not revealed.

Who are you talking

Fri, 12/17/2010 - 14:29 — zande

Who are you talking about?

"secrets (that would likely destroy their careers) are not revealed."

I'm talking about being

Fri, 12/17/2010 - 14:43 — HJ2ss2

I'm talking about being forced out because I spoke with someone who reported an administrator for child abuse. People may do unthinkable things under stress, I understand that. It's one thing to do something like this and move on.....and another ruin a career and and attempt to destroy someones good name when they had no intention of sharing the information. People tend to project their own behavior on others.

You were forced out because

Fri, 12/17/2010 - 14:59 — zande

You were forced out because you spoke with someone who reported an administrator for child abuse...? In another post you said the administrator was "charged" with child abuse. I assumed that DSS substantiated the report then. How do you know that the conversation you had with the reportee is what led to whatever problems you had with your employment?

It was temporally related.

Fri, 12/17/2010 - 15:06 — HJ2ss2

It was temporally related. I have, from my planner, the date I spoke with the person and the memo of demands (expectations) that was written over the following weekend. I was already being harrassed because I would not implement programs that were ineffective and was often questioned about how I happened to find out about things, in general. It's a hazard of my profession.

Unfair

Thu, 12/16/2010 - 10:53 — MissV

Has anyone questioned if NC State or the State of North Carolina is shortchanged by how Kevin Hill and Keith Sutton balance their work hours with the school board? Deborah Prickett's position is different because she's a contractor.

Perhaps I missed the N&O article on 'who' used their influence to cause John Tedesco to lose his job in the first place. It's the best kept secret known by those of us in the trenches.

JT said he quit his job. Is

Fri, 12/17/2010 - 14:30 — zande

JT said he quit his job. Is there more to the story? Do tell.....

Hello? At times you present

Sun, 12/19/2010 - 11:04 — woodstock

Hello? At times you present yourself as being informed, then you turn around and ask the oddest questions that could only be asked by someone without a clue. Yes, there is a whole lot more to the story.

Tedesco is backing away now

Thu, 12/16/2010 - 11:13 — KeungHui (author)

Tedesco is backing away now from saying he was forced out. He's simply saying now that he left Big Brothers Big Sisters to focus on the school board work.

Prickett is a full-time paid employee at DPI. They call it consultant for some reason but it doesn't mean she's a contract employee.

new job?

Thu, 12/16/2010 - 11:40 — stepbystep

I thought I had heard somewhere along the way that Prickett has a different job now, maybe within the past couple of months? My impression was that it wasn't a state job. But the details and my memory are fuzzy on all of that. It does seem that Prickett is able to attend more daytime meetings than when she first became a BOE member.

She still works at DPI but

Thu, 12/16/2010 - 12:21 — KeungHui (author)

She still works at DPI but they added on some additional duties to her work as the character education consultant.

what is a character education consultant?

Thu, 12/16/2010 - 13:53 — Athey01

I'm not a big fan of Ms Prickett, based upon her odd (to me) behavior at board meetings; therefore, I'm having a problem wrapping my head around her new job duties.

She's been the character

Thu, 12/16/2010 - 15:32 — KeungHui (author)

She's been the character education consultant at DPI ever since she left Leesville Middle a few years ago. The additional duties she's got don't deal with character ed. She's mentioned them at meetings but I don't recall what they are off the top of my head. But she's still got the character ed duties as well. For some reason, DPI uses the term "consultant" to describe the various positions that coordinate programs around the state. For instance, DPI has social studies consutants, language arts consultants, charter school consultants, etc. They just have one character ed consultant so Prickett works with the individual district character ed administrators.

Personally, character

Thu, 12/16/2010 - 14:52 — user12345

Personally, character education coordination would be one of the disciplines the DPI could do without. I would prefer all resources left after cuts were concentrated on math and science. I am thinking teachers have enough character training to last a few years until we get our financial house back in order.

Character Education is Essential

Tue, 02/08/2011 - 20:52 — integrityplease

Wow. ??? Caring about money as the be-all and end-all of education, or anything else, misses the point of what actually matters in life. (How do you think we got into the financial mess our nation is in? Ethical lapses!) Nearly everyone on the planet with a conscience recognizes the importance of developing childrens' character!!!! "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." - Proverbs 22:6.

FYI, school character education programs are mandated by state law and are run by parents, with the support of caring teachers and administrators, who are concerned enough about the moral and ethical development of everybody's children to spare their precious volunteer time and personal -- or donated -- resources to recognize students who exemplify exceptional character. (Of course, good teachers --and parents-- emphasize positive character traits every single day in a variety of ways.) As the PTA's Character Education coordinator for each of my children's schools, there was a resource person parent-coordinators could turn to for ideas and materials to teach and reward good character depending on grade level and class subject. As I recall, this was not the staff person's full-time job (it might've been Mrs. Prickett for all I know; I don't remember) but was just one of many duties she had under some other job title. So calm yourself about money being wasted. It wasn't. And the personal development many of the children showed was absolutely beautiful to behold.

It was my duty to coordinate

Thu, 12/16/2010 - 15:08 — HJ2ss2

It was my duty to coordinate the character education (monthly) award in the school. It was nice to recognize students for their integrity, good judgement, respect, kindness, etc. but kind of ironic if you knew that some administrators lacked some of these traits.

Character education is a

Thu, 12/16/2010 - 18:23 — user12345

Character education is a "nice to have". Character education consultant is not a budget priority in my mind. I just hope there are not too many positions like that in DPI which don't directly contribute to us being more globally competitive in math and science.

It's one of those things the

Thu, 12/16/2010 - 22:11 — HJ2ss2

It's one of those things the county does because it makes them look like they actually care about all the wonderful qualities superficially expected of students. Believe me, it is not that time consuming. It's a responsibility you can tag on to to someone's job description to make it look like it's important. Note "character education consultant" , not "character education director" which would take way more time. All they care about are appearances.

Two things. 1. Character

Sun, 12/19/2010 - 11:15 — woodstock

Two things. 1. Character education is -- or at least was -- legislated so your beef is not with DPI. 2. Prickett is not a "Character Education Consultant" as is incorrectly being claimed here.

According to the BoE website:

"Mrs. Prickett is employed presently as an Education Consultant with the NC Department of Public Instruction working in the Federal Program Monitoring Section. Her job duties involve monitoring 21st Century Community Learning Center Afterschool Programs as well as assistance with budgets, Federal compliance, and providing technical assistance for program directors and staff who instruct at-risk students throughout the State."

Unless it's changed very

Mon, 12/20/2010 - 12:50 — KeungHui (author)

Unless it's changed very recently, she still had her character education work she was doing too.

I was wrong. Prickett no

Tue, 12/21/2010 - 13:50 — KeungHui (author)

I was wrong. Prickett no longer has any duties with the character education program. She's strictly involved with the 21st Century Community Learning Center Afterschool programs now.

With due respect...

Sun, 12/19/2010 - 23:40 — Bob_Sconce

To Mrs. Prickett, I wonder how many people the State employs doing "federal compliance." A necessary, but not unproductive, use of money.

Bob, I was more interested

Mon, 12/20/2010 - 08:33 — user12345

Bob, I was more interested in the at-risk work and wonder why WCPSS is not on the leading edge of programs and grants given Prickett's position overseeing the entire state.

They are not on the "leading

Mon, 12/20/2010 - 09:20 — HJ2ss2

They are not on the "leading edge" because they choose staff to lead those programs who have little, if any, understanding of students and their families, the problems, existing programs (outside of WCPSS) or how to define the specific problems that need to be addressed. Teacheres who were assigned to teach these children approached me because they were frustrated by the lack of support an effective interventions. The program leader was well intentioned but clueless. Recognizing this and offering support and suggestions to the teachers is another example of why my resignation was forced. I couldn't pretend that students in the program were successful, especially when several were referred to me near the end of the year because their behavior and/ or academic functioning continued to decline.

This is one thread I wish

Thu, 12/16/2010 - 10:47 — CaryCurmudgeon

This is one thread I wish hadn't been started. It takes a person with no class or compassion to kick a man when he's down, guess we will see who falls into that category. DaisyDuke, thanks for being the first to let us know.

With all due respect,

Thu, 12/16/2010 - 11:11 — KeungHui (author)

With all due respect, Tedesco made it an issue with the public way he announced he was leaving Big Brothers. The post acknowledges that people have questions but also attempts to explain the situation.

TKH ???

Thu, 12/16/2010 - 10:30 — AgentPierce

TKH .... Please remind me what political affiliation John Tedesco carries. I thought that was mandated in the N&O style book. Also, the name "Art Pope" is glaringly absent. Really T. Keung .... you're slipping ....

Are you planning on

Thu, 12/16/2010 - 10:45 — KeungHui (author)

Are you planning on attending the February NAACP march in order to repeat your observations from the July march about the unattractiveness of the women there?

Inappropriate

Mon, 12/20/2010 - 13:12 — dcalloway

While this original post relies too much on speculation and hearsay, I literally cannot believe you wrote this comment. Most of the comments on this blog are bad enough, in both directions, but to see the reporter get snippy and personal in public is unbelievable. You are supposed to be the referee, Mr. Hui, not a participant. Further evidence of the N&O's decline.

Don't get on Keung, he is

Tue, 12/21/2010 - 12:58 — woodstock

Don't get on Keung, he is the daisy growing the heap of dung... a point of light in the abyss. Plus, I like it when he gets fiesty.

An appropriate response to a

Mon, 12/20/2010 - 22:03 — HJ2ss2

An appropriate response to a consescending comment. At least, that's how I view it

?

Mon, 12/20/2010 - 13:26 — Bob_Sconce

Why is he the referee?

Maybe ....

Thu, 12/16/2010 - 11:46 — AgentPierce

I might. Maybe we can go together and each see the event thru each others eyes. You game?

For those not inside the private world of TKH & AP, TK refers to my observation from that earlier FayettevilleSt March. There seemed to be an inordinate number of rather unattractive Caucasian women. "Unattractiveness" being a relative term to each individual. For those into the Janis Joplin earth mother-types .... it was "die & gone to heaven". I'm not in to "earth mothers". But I'm glad they have a place they can assemble.

So TKH .... check with JD and see if he will fund An AP & TKH Joint-Racial Demonstration Observation. A free lunch at The Pit is my standard charge. I bet Bruce will join us. :>)

John Tedesco looking for a job

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