The Franklin-McKinley School District board voted 4-1 on Tuesday, Oct. 27, to censure trustee Marc Cooper and ask him to resign, San José Spotlight reports. Cooper cast the only no vote.
What led to the vote
The censure stems from a Sept. 8 board meeting. San Jose Source reports that Cooper handed Bible literature to each board member and the superintendent at that meeting, along with a list of people killed on 9/11. Spotlight reports he called the attackers "cowardly, radical Muslims."
The board sent a letter to the school community on Sept. 11, and on Sept. 22 it voted 4-1 to publicly admonish him, San Jose Source reports. The board cited his comments about Muslims and his incorrect claim that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled America is a Christian nation.
What the censure does
Trustee Rudy Rodriguez brought the censure resolution. According to Spotlight, the board also asked staff to look into further steps, such as removing Cooper from committee and liaison roles. A censure cannot remove a trustee from office.
Cooper said he will not step down. "I'm not going to resign," he told Spotlight. "If they don't want me, they'll vote me out." At the September meeting, San Jose Source reports, Cooper said he does not hate Muslims and noted that he married someone from a Muslim country who later became a Christian.
Calls to resign
Spotlight reports that the NAACP San Jose/Silicon Valley branch and the Council on American-Islamic Relations called for Cooper to resign. Santa Clara County Board of Education member Maimona Afzal Berta said she would also ask him to step down. One public speaker, Dawn Suiter, defended him.
Franklin-McKinley trustees are also on the Nov. 3 ballot. See our guide to the Franklin-McKinley school board race.