Alabama teacher suspended after giving test with questions about drugs, pimps
A middle school teacher in Alabama gives her students a math test. It is filled with questions about pimps, drugs, and guns. How many days will it be until this teacher is fired? Extra credit if you can explain why the teacher thought this was a good idea.
The Mobile County Public School System has confirmed that a teacher at Burns Middle School in Mobile has been put on administrative leave after giving eighth grade students what's known as the "L.A. Math Proficiency Test," CBS News reports. The test, which has been making the rounds on the internet for years, asks such questions as: "Leroy has 2 ounces of cocaine. If he sells an 8 ball to Antonio for $320 and 2 grams to Juan for $85 per gram, what is the street value of the rest of his hold?" and "Pedro got 6 years for murder. He also got $10,000 for that hit. If his common-law wife spends $100 of his hit money per month, how much money will be left when he gets out?"
Superintendent Martha Peek said because this is a personnel issue, she could not comment, but stated that as soon as administrators found out about the test, the unidentified teacher was suspended. Parent Erica Hall told Fox 10 her son took a photo of the offensive test, given to him during language arts, and sent it to her. "They took it as a joke, and she told them it wasn't a joke, and they had to complete it and turn it in," she said. Perhaps the most alarming thing is this isn't the first time a person entrusted with educating children has gotten in trouble over this — teachers in California, New Mexico, and Texas have been suspended for passing out similar tests.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Political cartoons for October 25Cartoons Saturday’s political cartoons include hospital bill trauma, Independence Day, and more
-
Roasted squash and apple soup recipeThe Week Recommends Autumnal soup is full of warming and hearty flavours
-
Ukraine: Donald Trump pivots againIn the Spotlight US president apparently warned Volodymyr Zelenskyy to accept Vladimir Putin’s terms or face destruction during fractious face-to-face
-
Trump pardons crypto titan who enriched familySpeed Read Binance founder Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty in 2023 to enabling money laundering while CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange
-
Thieves nab French crown jewels from LouvreSpeed Read A gang of thieves stole 19th century royal jewels from the Paris museum’s Galerie d’Apollon
-
Arsonist who attacked Shapiro gets 25-50 yearsSpeed Read Cody Balmer broke into the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion and tried to burn it down
-
Man charged over LA’s deadly Palisades Firespeed read 29-year-old Jonathan Rinderknecht has been arrested in connection with the fire that killed 12 people
-
4 dead in shooting, arson attack in Michigan churchSpeed Read A gunman drove a pickup truck into a Mormon church where he shot at congregants and then set the building on fire
-
2 kids killed in shooting at Catholic school massSpeed Read 17 others were wounded during a morning mass at the Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis
-
Australian woman found guilty of mushroom murdersspeed read Erin Patterson murdered three of her ex-husband's relatives by serving them toxic death cap mushrooms
-
Combs convicted on 2 of 5 charges, denied bailSpeed Read Sean 'Diddy' Combs was acquitted of the more serious charges of racketeering and sex trafficking
