An Alabama middle school teacher was suspended for distributing a math test paper that cited gangs, shootings, and prostitution as well as names of people racially-linked such as Tyrone, Ramon, and Leroy.
In a report by Cleveland.com, the test paper was distributed by a language arts teacher and is said to be a female educator. Her race and her name were not released by the school.
The teacher is said to be from Burns Middle School in Mobile, Alabama and a photo showing the test paper was posted online by one of the students. The test has since then been known was the "L.A. Math Proficiency Test." In it, word problems and characters that are racially charged were seen. Some questions referred to drive-by shootings, murder-for-hire, and drug dealings.
The student said that the test was given to them on Friday. The student reportedly took a photo of the test using his cell phone. He then showed it to his mother, identified as Erica Hall. Hall and her husband went to the school to complain about the exam.
The school officials investigated the matter resulting to the teacher being suspended. The teacher was placed on administrative leave for the remainder of the school year. The teacher is said to be planning to retire by the end of this year.
A spokeswoman for Mobile County Public School System, Rena Phillips, said in a statement that they regret such incident happened. She added, "We have 7,500 employees in Mobile County public schools, and the vast majority of them are doing phenomenal work in our classrooms." Phillips also noted that Hall and her husband are the only parents to complain about the given math exam.
One of the questions on the math exam reads: "Tyrone knocked up 4 girls in the gang. There are 20 girls in his gang. What is the exact percentage of girls Tyrone knocked up?" Another math problem says that a character named Dwayne "pimps 3 ho's" and that the price is $85 per trick. The question continued, "How many tricks per day must each ho turn to support Dwayne's $800 per day crack habit?"
Accordingly, the exam has been around for decades and the teacher recently suspended is not the first to be reprimanded for giving out such exam. It is unclear if this is true.
The school has not yet commented on the matter.
