In the days to come, look for various groups and pundits to weigh in on the significance of the passage of the Wake County school bond issue and the near complete takeover of the school board by Democratic-backed members.
Bob Geary of the liberal Independent Weekly is giving his analysis with an online article today that says the elections mean that "order's been restored on the Wake school board, whose nine members now include zero — as in none at all — right-wing Republicans." He calls it a "a vote of confidence in the school system."
Geary also calls the passage of the bond issue a case of "rejecting the Republican brand once more" because the Wake County Republican Party had opposed the measure.
In terms of the new school board, Geary writes that "the Wake schools are still under assault, but from without now, not from within." While saying that Gov. Pat McCrory and the Republican-led General Assembly have Wake "right in their crosshairs," Geary says the "election results are a vote of confidence in the school system and a board now controlled 9-0 by a moderate coalition."
With the defeat of school board member Deborah Prickett, Geary notes how all five members of the former GOP board majority will be gone from the board.
"If drama's your thing, you'll miss Goldman, John Tedesco, Chris Malone and 'Papa Ron' Margiotta, the four swashbuckling Republicans who, with Prickett, comprised the 'Margiotta Majority' in 2009-11," Geary writes. "If you think the school board is a place for serious people interested in good schools, not their own fame or getting ahead as party apparatchiks, the new 9-0 majority will strike you as a little dull — as they should be."
Geary also predicts that school board vice chairwoman Christine Kushner, whom he calls "a smart and not very flashy member," will be next board chair. The annual reorganization meeting is in December when the new members are sworn into office.
