Marysville School Board member asked to resign over e-mail
To the wild cheers of a packed house, four members of the Marysville School board voted Monday night to request the resignation of the fifth member, Michael Kundu.
Seattle Times staff reporter
Michael Kundu
To the wild cheers of a packed house, four members of the Marysville School Board voted Monday night to request the resignation of the fifth member, Michael Kundu.
Kundu came under fire for a June 3 e-mail that suggested different races have different brains sizes and intellectual capacities.
It was sent to other members of the board after a discussion about how to bridge the achievement gap among different ethnic groups.
In Maryland for his job with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Kundu missed the meeting.
After the vote, board member Chris Nation said Kundu's remarks were "truly not representative of the board."
The board believes every child can succeed, he said.
Nearly all seats at the meeting were filled, mostly with citizens wanting to voice opinions before the board voted.
Calista Phair, wearing a tiara and a "Miss Black Washington USA 2010" sash, was among the first to speak.
"How dare you insult my race," Phair said, listing achievements by various black individuals. "That doesn't