{"id":483319,"date":"2026-10-03T00:38:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-03T00:38:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/483319\/"},"modified":"2026-10-03T00:38:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-03T00:38:11","slug":"san-jose-school-trustee-admonished-for-discriminatory-remarks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/483319\/","title":{"rendered":"San Jose school trustee admonished for discriminatory remarks"},"content":{"rendered":"

A San Jose school board has publicly admonished a trustee in response to his conduct, and signed a resolution supporting diversity.<\/p>\n

Franklin-McKinley School District trustees on Sept. 22 voted 4-1 to rebuke Trustee Marc Cooper for discrimination against Muslims and incorrectly stating the U.S. Supreme Court ruled America is a Christian nation. As part of the resolution, they also reaffirmed their commitment to diversity and nondiscrimination. Cooper voted against it.<\/p>\n

Board Vice President Steven Sanchez said it\u2019s important for public officials to recognize the U.S. does not have an official religion.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Constitution protects freedom of religion for Christians and people of every other faith as well,\u201d Sanchez said at the meeting.<\/p>\n

The resolution was in response to Cooper\u2019s statements and actions at a Sept. 8 board meeting where he presented Bible literature to each of the board members with a list of people killed on 9\/11.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the 25th year of remembrance of the bombing of the Twin Towers by the cowardly, radical Muslims, where almost 3,000 people were killed,\u201d Cooper said at the Sept. 8 meeting. \u201cI\u2019ve been asked and complimented on my lapel pin, I wear proudly the American flag on top of the cross. Three times, the Supreme Court has ruled that America is a Christian nation, so I\u2019m giving each one of the board members and the superintendent a gift.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a result of his actions, the board sent a letter on Sept. 11 to the school community.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy stating his views and undertaking these actions in the manner done from the dais during a board meeting, Mr. Cooper disregarded the views of others, made misleading claims about the law, and created the impression (that) we condone his actions, which the board does not,\u201d the letter said. \u201cOur district\u2019s board-approved motto is, \u2018Preparing all children as global learners.\u2019 This applies to ALL children and not just some children, regardless of the child\u2019s or parents\u2019 religious faith, beliefs, or affiliations.\u201d<\/p>\n

The board upheld the importance of remembering 9\/11 and reminded the community that Franklin-McKinley School District alumnus Jason M. Dahl was captain of United Flight 93, which crashed in Pennsylvania that day. The district named Captain Jason M. Dahl Elementary School in his honor.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur district must remain a place where every family feels respected and represented, regardless of their faith, culture or background,\u201d Sanchez told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight.<\/p>\n

Cooper was previously censured<\/a> by the board for his connection with Informed Parents of Silicon Valley<\/a> \u2014 an organization openly against teaching critical race theory and gender expansive education in schools.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope the resolution reassures our community, encourages reflection and helps the board move forward with a shared focus on serving every student and family,\u201d Board President Hong Ha Hoang told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight.<\/p>\n

Trustee Rudy Rodriguez criticized Cooper and called for his resignation.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour comments and actions over the past several years have been hateful, divisive and unrepresentative of the diversity of our school district and its stakeholders,\u201d Rodriguez said at the meeting. \u201cI\u2019m publicly requesting that you immediately resign from the FMSD board.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cooper said he doesn\u2019t hate Muslims and married a person from a Muslim country who became a Christian. Although the U.S. doesn\u2019t have an official religion, he said, its roots come from Judeo-Christian values.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a cowardly act. It was radical Islam terrorists that did that,\u201d Cooper told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight, referring to 9\/11. \u201cThat\u2019s not all the Muslim people. This is a small group, and that\u2019s all we\u2019re talking about with 9\/11, a small group with the intent to go and kill people. That doesn\u2019t make me hate anybody, not (at) all. And I don\u2019t promote that in our district.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cooper said trustees need to work together as a team.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re all from different backgrounds and religions and ethnicities, but the community elected us to represent different parts of our community,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s what democracy is all about.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"In-line<\/a><\/p>\n

Tuan-Anh Huynh, president of Franklin-McKinley Education Association, said many of Cooper\u2019s comments aren\u2019t inclusive.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe says a lot of things that would make certain groups feel very uncomfortable and not welcome in the district,\u201d he told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cI\u2019m very happy that the board reacted and issued a statement affirming they do not agree with Marc Cooper\u2019s comments.\u201d<\/p>\n

Contact Lorraine Gabbert at [email\u00a0protected]<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A San Jose school board has publicly admonished a trustee in response to his conduct, and signed a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":483320,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[712,88,90,89],"class_list":["post-483319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-jose","tag-centerpiece","tag-san-jose","tag-san-jose-headlines","tag-san-jose-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=483319"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483319\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/483320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=483319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=483319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=483319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}