Stop Wake School Board Bullies (Updated)

Stop the Wake Board of Education Bullies

We, the undersigned, sign this Petition to express a "no confidence" vote in and demand for censure, resignation, and/or recall of Wake County Board of Education members John Tedesco, Deborah Prickett, Debra Goldman, Chris Malone, and Ron Margiotta, for the following reasons:

In the past, we had confidence our School Board was acting in a inclusive, and civil, nonpartisan manner, and that there were various checks and balances in place to keep them from doing harm. Even when we didn't agree with all the policies, there was an expectation that board members used a deliberate and thoughtful process to reach their decisions.

While some of us agree with one or more of the policy positions of these aforementioned members, we object to the MANNER in which they conduct themselves--which is akin to schoolyard BULLIES.

We have LOST FAITH in these Board members ability act in the nonpartisan, inclusive, and civil manner which expect. They are not reflecting the values of our community, including our sense of fair play. They are not setting a good example for our children.

They have introduced an unexpected and unprecedented amount of partisanship, including unprecedented amounts of SPECIAL INTEREST CAMPAIGN FINANCING, to our school board.

They have VIOLATED most provisions in the Boards own CODE OF ETHICS, which they signed in December 2009, including holding closed and/or SECRET MEETINGS, which, if not in illegal, certainly violates the SPIRIT of our open meetings laws and the rights of citizens to observe and participate in government actions and decisions. (For listing of Ethics Code violations see http://groups.google.com/group/stopwakeschoolboardbullies?hl=en.)

Rather than encouraging civil discussions and seeking creative problem-solving befitting the Research Triangle region, these board members instead resort to bullying anyone who disagrees with them and doing whatever they want by whatever means they want.

They have also created a hostile working environment for educators exercising their RIGHT TO FREE SPEECH in disagreement with the boards policies. They have threatened to fire a dedicated public servant who has only tried to do whats right for three decades. They have alienated the school systems administrators, teachers and of the North Carolina Education Association.

In short, they have threatened, bullied and alienated the very people who interact with our children, whom we trust to guide and teach our children. Our schools cannot function without these educators, and they need our support, not a hostile working environment.

THEREFORE, we, the undersigned, in seeking to protect our school system and children from irreparable harm, sign this petition to demonstrate our lack of confidence in these Wake County School Board members and demand for their immediate censure, resignation and/or recall.