Wake School Board Under Fire

Criticism of the Wake County School Board's decision to do away with the diversity policy is growing.

The latest wave of criticism came after a page one story appeared in the Washington Post last week, linking the Board Majority to the Tea Party. That prompted the U.S. Secretary of Education to weigh in in a letter to the editor.

Then on Monday, Governor Bev Perdue and Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker said the actions of the Board did not coincide with the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr.

John Tedesco is a member of the school board majority and defended the policy of community schools on the Fox Business Network yesterday.

"I represent some of the lowest income sections of our community in my district, and many of those families happen to be single parent households, single-parent moms, who come to me crying 'Mr. Tedesco I take public transportation to work in the local hospital cafeteria, how am I supposed to go meet with my student's teachers an hour away from home?'"

The Wake School Board is facing a federal civil rights investigation over the policy change and may also lose accreditation for its high schools.