Neighborhood schools and student assignment are hot-button election topics in the District 8 Wake County School Board race, which pits Chairman Ron Margiotta against candidate Susan Evans.
Mailers for each candidate tag mailboxes and doorknobs throughout Apex, with each candidate promising to work for "all" children.
Margiotta said he's the right one for the job based on his business experience and knowledge on the board.
"I've always listened to my community," said Margiotta.
His challenger, Evans, also touted her professional experience.
"I am an accountant by background so I know I can make decisions using data in an analytical fashion," she said.
While Evans said she understands concerns among Western Wake families about back-to-back reassignments and lack of stability, she wants to encourage policies that promote balanced, diverse school enrollments.
The new Republican-majority on the board did away with socio-economic busing.
"We didn't accomplish anything by busing kids all over the county. We hurt people in the suburbs and students bused out did not show improved achievement," said Margiotta.
Margiotta is running for re-election to see through a major overhaul in the way Wake County students are assigned to schools.
"With the new plan, parents will have choice. They'll be able to opt out of a school if they so choose, if they think it's not performing. It will bring competition among our schools so the administrators will have to provide a good education," said Margiotta.
Evans doesn't buy it.
"I'm a little concerned we're paying lip service to giving options to children in a higher needs area," she said.
She is concerned there won't be enough available seats in higher-achieving schools for students in need.
School board elections are non-partisan.
Evans calls herself non-political, but the registered Democrat is endorsed by the Wake County Democratic Party.
On the other side, the Wake County Republican Party has endorsed Margiotta.
Third-party mailers from the group "Common Sense Matters" have attacked Margiotta and at least one other Republican school board candidate for ties to the Tea Party.
Margiotta, a fiscal conservative, chuckled over the Tea Party reference.
"I don't drink tea," he said. "I'm a coffee drinker."
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