Tedesco won't seek second term on Wake school board

Wake County Board of Education member John Tedesco said Wednesday that he will not run for re-election this fall.

Tedesco said he prayed on the issue for a while, but decided he wants to spend more time with his family.

He was elected in 2009, the year that Republican-backed candidates took the majority on the board, which had drawn criticism over its long-standing policy of busing for diversity. With Tedesco as an outspoken proponent of neighborhood schools, the new board majority overturned that policy in 2010, kicking off a long ideological battle over student assignment that resulted in three different assignment plans in as many years.

The 2012 election shifted the school board's balance of power to favor the Democrats. In recent months, Tedesco often found himself voting in a minority of two, alongside Deborah Prickett, after fellow Republicans Debra Goldman and Chris Malone resigned from the board.

Tedesco mounted an unsuccessful campaign for state superintendent last year but said Wednesday that he hasn't ruled out running for office in the future. 

His term expires in November.