A controversial San Jose school official has been rebuked and asked to resign, but he won’t step down.
The board of the Franklin-McKinley School District on Tuesday voted 4-1 to censure Trustee Marc Cooper and requested his resignation for making remarks it considered hateful toward Muslims. Cooper cast the lone no vote. The decision was based on what trustees deemed to be discriminatory behavior by Cooper at a Sept. 8 board meeting. Board policies quoted in the resolution upheld protecting the rights of every student from hate-motivated, discriminatory behavior. Cooper’s conduct and comments violated these policies, according to the resolution.
At the Sept. 8 meeting, Cooper discussed 9/11 and referred to the perpetrators as “cowardly, radical Muslims.” The board rebuked his behavior at a Sept. 22 meeting, where trustees supported an open letter to the community reaffirming their commitment to diversity and non-discrimination. But Trustee Rudy Rodriguez said he brought forward the resolution to censure Cooper because he didn’t feel the board’s community letter went far enough…