An Aurora school board member Tuesday offered a lengthy, emotional response to criticism for her recent comments about immigrants,.
Last month, board member Cathy Wildman expressed concern about a school board resolution supporting immigrant students and families. She called it unnecessary and argued that it singled out a group of students she called rule-breakers. She emphasized the importance of following rules and included an assurance that she wants students to feel safe.
Although Wildman ultimately joined her colleagues in approving the resolution, her comments have come under fire from education reform groups doing work in Aurora and others.
On Tuesday, Wildman spoke at length about her thinking, making references to the Ten Commandments and the Declaration of Independence. She said that she, too, is an immigrant.
Wildman, a former teacher, said her goal “is that all students feel safe and included,
More than 82 percent of Aurora’s students are students of color, and the city has a large population of refugees and immigrants.
“I guess I feel that we are setting aside or creating additional rules and policies in some ways for people who broke the rules,” Wildman said last month. “When you talk about safety with people that have come across, they have made it unsafe.”
Parents at that board meeting called the comments rude.
Last week, Colorado’s Republican U.S. Senator Cory Gardner met with Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte in Manila.
The news came as a surprise to political observers in Colorado, in part because of how the news broke. Gardner did not publicly announce his visit— instead his meeting emerged from leaked documents and Duterte’s own press shop.
A U.S. senator meeting with a foreign president typically might not be so controversial, particularly a senator who chairs the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific and International Cybersecurity.
But for anyone following current international news, Duterte’s name comes with some grizzly baggage. For several months, human rights groups have accused him of overseeing a bloodbath of late-night murders in the streets and homes of his country as the president cracks down on drugs.
Read more about the meeting and reaction to it at The Colorado Independent.com
