John Tedesco

John Thomas Tedesco (born January 20, 1975) is an American politician from Wake County, North Carolina and was the Republican nominee for North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction in 2012. He currently serves on the Wake County School Board, which oversees the Wake County Public School System. With 147,00 students enrolled in 165 schools as of the 2010-11 academic year, it is the largest public school district in North Carolina and the 16th largest district in the United States. He served as the boards' vice chair in 2011, and currently serves as chairman of the economically disadvantaged students task force. Tedesco presently serves as president and CEO of the North Carolina Center for Education Reform, which bills itself as a "catalyst for a powerful transformation of K-12 public education". He is a member of the North Carolina Republican Party, and has emerged as a prominent figure within the Tea Party movement.
Tedesco's policies on the Wake County School Board have sparked state and national debates on the consideration of socio-economic diversity when assigning students to schools, which have drawn both national praise and criticism alike. The state and national chapters of the NAACP have routinely criticized Tedesco and the Wake County School Board's recent decisions.
Early life, education and career
Tedesco was born in New York City, but moved with his family to Pittsburgh at age five. The oldest of six children, Tedesco has acknowledged that he never had a stable home during his childhood and was considered a . With his mom a drug addict, Tedesco says he lived in 32 places, including shelters and housing projects in New York City and Pittsburgh, before he turned 18. The family lived off food stamps and welfare.
After graduating from high school in 1993, Tedesco worked multiple jobs to save enough money to attend Thiel College in Pennsylvania and received a degree in Political Science in 1998.
He went on to work at Pace University in New York before being appointed city manager of Highlands, New Jersey in 2000. During Tedesco's tenure as manager, he frequently sparred with the Communication Workers of America Local 1036 labor union in New Jersey. Highlands, New Jersey played a role in assisting with the aftermath of 9/11. Tedesco was running the day-to-day operations of Highlands when it became a central point for thousands of evacuees fleeing Lower Manhattan by ferry after the terrorist attacks. The town also served as a supply point for personnel traveling into ground zero. However in 2002 Tedesco was fired as the Highlands, New Jersey manager for mostly political reasons.
Following his tenure in Highlands, he took on the role of director of development for Ocean's Harbor House in , which provides a safe haven annually for 8,000 homeless and abused young people along the Jersey Shore. He helped his family relocate to Wake County, North Carolina in 2004 after his mother died. Tedesco says, he regularly visited the area to attend school meetings for his two sisters, who are both deaf, and his youngest brother, who has learning disabilities. Tedesco decided to move to Wake County himself three years later to take a job with as a development officer for the NC Triangle branch of the non-profit Big Brothers Big Sisters of America.
Personal
After stepping down from his job at Big Brothers Big Sisters of America to focus on his role with the Wake County school board, Tedesco made local news when his home was facing foreclosure in 2010. On January 1, 2012 Tedesco married Jennifer Janise Tedesco., his second marriage.
Wake County politics
Tedesco began his political career in Garner, North Carolina in 2009 when he was elected to the Wake County School Board. Tedesco placed first on the October Ballot, ousting long-time incumbent Horace Tart. He then went on to win the run-off election in November beating school teacher Cathy Truitt. During his runoff campaign, Tedesco won the endorsement of popular Wake County Sheriff Donnie Harrison.
Early into Tedesco's term on the school board, multiple critics of his policies emerged. Notable Duke University historian and author Timothy Tyson argued with John Tedesco at a large NAACP rally in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina. Tyson asserted that Tedesco's move toward neighborhood schools in Wake County can be traced to efforts to resist school integration. The state NAACP president equated Tedesco and the Wake School Board majority to the Mafia, noting that they are not natives of North Carolina.
On April 15, 2010 Tedesco keynoted a large Tea Party rally in downtown Raleigh. The tax-day protest, organized by Triangle Conservatives Unite, featured a panel of speakers that also included multiple candidates for congress and state offices. The Capitol Police estimated about 1,000 people gathered on the lawn of the North Carolina State Capitol building.
North Carolina politics
In January 2012 Tedesco declared his candidacy for North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction. In the May 2012 primary he failed to receive enough votes to avoid a runoff election in July. but defeated Richard Alexander in that runoff primary for the republican nomination for the seat. Tedesco faces longtime incumbent June Atkinson in the November election.
On November 6th, 2012, Mr. Tedesco lost in a landslide to incumbent June Atkinson by an 8 point margin.
Primary results
General Election results

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