"Wow! Unacceptable!" Alabama teacher on administrative leave over "racist" language arts quiz



MOBILE, Alabama -- "Inappropriate" and "racist" aren't usually words used to describe a language arts test -- but that is exactly what some parents are saying about an assignment given by an Alabama middle school teacher.

"My son he took a picture of it in class and he text it to me, and I couldn't believe it," Erica Hall said.

Hall says her son sent her a text message that included a photo of the quiz his eighth grade language arts teacher passed out on Friday, May 27th. She says even the kids thought it was some kind of a joke.

"They took it has a joke, and she told them that it wasn't it a joke and they had to complete it and turn it in," Hall said.

The Hall family headed to the school on Tuesday, May 31st for answers.

WALA obtained a copy of the quiz.

After outlining the math for a problem involving an AK-47, question #1 asks: "How  many drive-by shootings can Ramon attempt before he has to steal enough ammunition and reload?"

Question #8 reads: "Tyrone knocked up four girls in the gang. There are 20 girls in his gang. What is the exact percentage of girls Tyrone knocked up?"

"Wow! Unacceptable," Kanitha McMillan said.

McMillan is also a parent at the school. She says she wouldn't want this quiz handed out to her sixth grader.

Kellie Lee didn't realize her daughter Peyton was in that eighth grade class that received the quiz.

"My language arts teacher gave it to us to work and I was kind of laughing at it, because I thought it was...off," Peyton Lee said.

"I'm shocked. I can't believe that was something they would, these questions they would ask children. I don't think it's appropriate at all," Kellie Lee said.

WALA did some research to try to find out where the quiz originated.

It was discovered that it apparently has a long history. Similar versions of this 10-question quiz have been turning up in classrooms across the country since the 1990s. And a lot of teachers have ended up in hot water over the test in several states including Texas, California, and New Mexico.

The Mobile County Public School System may be next on the list.

"My son says this is actually (the teacher's) last year. She's retiring," Hall said.

The teacher has been placed on administrative leave while an investigation is pending.