Imagine sending your child to school and they complain about a math quiz, seems kind of normal for many parents and students. But students in Joanne Bolser’s class at Burns Middle School in Mobile, Alabama, were given a 10-question test that has sparked outrage and accusations of racism and just plain bad taste.
The questions on the test are outrageous and include the following:
“Leroy has 2 ounces of cocaine. If he sells an 8-Ball to Antonio for $320 and 2 grams to Juan for $85 a gram, what is the street value of the rest of his hold?”
“Dwayne pimps 3 h-’s. If the price is $85 per trick, how many tricks per day must each h- turn to support Dwayne’s $800 per day crack habit?”
The test goes on to ask about the number of bullets used in drive-by shootings as well as more derogatory and racist language. A student was upset by the questions and took a picture with his cellphone and sent it to his mother. The mom identified as Erica Hall was outraged and contacted the school last Friday. On Tuesday, the school principal and resource officer investigated the matter and soon the district took action. Bolser was placed on administrative leave and the district stated, “We regret this happened. We have 7,500 employees at Mobile Public Schools and we overwhelmingly have excellent teachers. This is a shame that it’s taking away from their work.”
But Bolser is not alone in using this test, which came out as a parody sometime during the 1990s. Teachers have been suspended or lost their jobs in various states over what is known as the “L.A. Math Proficiency Test.” Bolser will now have to appeal her suspension with a state administrative hearing about her actions.
