OCTOBER 14. 2009 | THE MEREDITH HERALD | PA6E 3
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RISING TENSION IN SCHOOL BOARD
ELECTIONS
Elisabeth Lynne Bjork
Staff Writer
On October 6, the polls closed for the .
Wake County Board of Education Elec
tions.
And the winners are...undecided.
This year, the candfdates debated a highly
controversial issue; a few of the candi
dates. according to Kristin Collins and I.
Keung Hui, staff writers for the News and
Observer, “support long-standing efforts
to maintain socioeconornic balance in the
state's larg’est school system." These
candidates favor “diversity" and hope to
maintain the status quo. Other candi
dates, however, believe children should
not have to travel all across town everyday
to their schools and believe “neighborhood
schools,” or what some call "resegrega-
tion” is a betteroption for families.
Although the diversity issue is huge and
extremely touchy, the actual campaigns
that most of the candidates ran this year
were not exciting. Very few people were
actually expected to vote and early polls
clearly hinted at this small turnout. Ruth
Sheehan, Staff Writer for the News and
Observer, wrote, “[i]n 2007, during the last
school board race, 1,100 people voted
early in Raleigh; 1,800 in Cary. This year,
the total's 422. In 2007, 983 people re^
quested absentee ballots; this year, 132.
Wakegov.com reported that 483,526
people were registered to vote; the nurh-
ber of ballots cast was 54,965. The voter
turnout was just 11.37%.
After a quiet day at the polls that will
decide the future of a large number of
children in Wake County, the verdict
is still in the air. The unofficial results
from Wakegov.com are as follows: Chris
Malone, Deborah Prickett, and Debra
Goldman have won a seats on the Board
of Educators, but the deciding fourth seat
is too close to call. Although numerous
fee! John Tedesco, with 49.38% of the
votes, should win, the runner-up, Cathy
E. Truitt, with 23.72% of the votes, filed
today for a runoff In the District 2 race.
This last seat Is the deciding vote because
the other three elected are all in favor of
neighborhood schools, and now the Board
of Education is breathlessly weighted 4-4
in the diversity debate. John Tedesco sup
ports neighborhood schools, while Cathy
E. Truitt does not. The runoff will occur
November 3rd.
Voters must wait nearly a month for
this important, yet sleepy, election to come
to a close. We must wait as the future of
the Wake County children hangs in the
balance.