Board of Directors, Colorado Association for Bilingual Education September 15, 2018 Re: Board Response to Jorge García’s Treatment at the Sep. 11 Adams 14 Board Meeting On September 11, 2018, CABE’s Executive Director, Jorge García, was ​forcibly removed​ from an Adams 14 School Board meeting for naming specific School Board and District personnel in his public comments. Shaken by the incident, Jorge offered his letter of resignation to the CABE Board in order to spare the organization any possible retaliatory litigation targeting him. At its most recent meeting, the CABE Board swiftly and unanimously voted to reject Jorge’s letter, standing on two central principles: 1) CABE is the foremost advocate for educational equity for emergent bilinguals in the state​. Jorge’s initial actions at the Adams 14 board meeting were perfectly consistent with this role. Regardless of Adams 14 unwritten policy against naming specific actors, CABE believes that School Boards and District personnel are public servants entrusted with the edification of youth. Any who would abrogate this responsibility can and should be identified and held to account. 2) The pursuit of educational equity aligns with, and depends on, the protection of civil rights. ​CABE believes that any move by public officials to hinder the freedoms of expression, petition, and peaceful assembly is an unacceptable (and unconstitutional) gesture of authoritarianism. The existence and enforcement of unwritten rules limiting the content of public comment at School Board meetings, including the interruption of Jorge’s own public comments at the recent meeting, as well as the recent addition of police presence at meetings, are intimidating gestures to insulate those in power from the demands of the students, families, and teachers they serve. Thus, the CABE Board of Directors chose to retain Jorge García as Executive Director. Further, we will continue CABE’s involvement in Adams 14 on behalf of the students, teachers, and families in the district who approached CABE seeking remedy for the curtailment of biliteracy programming and the culture of intimidation pervading schools and public meetings in the district. While we acknowledge that tempers flared in the moment and that more could have been done (by all parties) to de-escalate tensions, we as a Board are proud to have Jorge as a colleague and grateful for his tireless efforts in pursuit of justice. We demand that the Adams 14 Board issue a forthright apology at the next public meeting and allow Jorge to complete his interrupted statement. We further demand that any rules governing community comment at such meetings be formalized in writing and be made public. We remain steadfast in our support of Colorado’s bilingual students, families, and educators, and will not be browbeaten from what we know is a just and noble pursuit.