California teacher's 'racist' biology exam horrifies students (2024)

A Sacramento high school biology teacher has been suspended after producing a test for his students that named and mocked children in the class who were cross-eyed and made racist remarks.

Alex Nguyen is still listed as a teacher on the website of Luther Burbank High School in Sacramento. He has been at the school for at least a decade.

He came under fire when he gave out a biology final - which was fully given to three different classes before it was taken away from the fourth - that identified various students by their full names and described both their body types and ethnic backgrounds.

The questions described various biological traits that someone could have and asked them to name which of their classmates might have them based on their backgrounds, or putting two children together and questioning what traits their children would have.

One such question went:'In high school, there are individuals who are cross-eyed like [Student's Name] and [Other Student's Name], which is a dominant trait. We call those individuals 'weirdoes'. So, if you crossed two weirdoes [Both Students], that are heterozygous for being cross-eyed, what is the offspring that would result?'

Alex Nguyen is still listed as a teacher on the website of Luther Burbank High School in Sacramento. He has been at the school for at least a decade

Another went into racial stereotypes involving a black student and a Latina student.

'For some reason, the African American culture has influenced most of the student body. How? In African Americans, they have a gene for the pimp walk, which is dominant,' the question started.

'What is the result if you cross [Student Name] homozygous dominant Latina with a homozygous recessive Hmong like [Other Student Name]?'

Luther Burbank High School's student population is 97 percent non-white, according to the Sacramento Bee.

Another included personal vendettas against students that he alleged were sleeping in class, with the similar 'if they mated' question involving their genes.

Nguyen clarified within the bounds of the test, writing 'in no way do I promote students being sexually active,' but the damage was done.

Within ten minutes, Luther Burbank High School Principal Jim Peterson had gone in and taken away the final from the students.

However, bizarrely, Nguyen then placed a copy of the final on a projector screen and had them continue to take it on separate sheets of paper. A spokesman for the school told DailyMail.com they were not aware of this.

Nguyencame under fire when he gave out a biology final - which was fully given to three different classes before it was taken away from the fourth - that identified various students by their full names and described both their body types and ethnic backgrounds

When students arrived the next day - the final day of the semester - Nguyen had been replaced by a substitute but students were given real grades for the tests they had taken, with one saying he got a zero that dragged his average down to a D.

That student - who needs a certain grade point average to play on the school baseball team, in addition to keeping a good transcript - contested the grade via his parents.

'I'd want him to apologize to Burbank as a whole, because that's the majority of our kids,' the student said, saying that he didn't even want Nguyen to be fired.

'So for him to say those things, it's pretty messed up.'

The student's parents said they were called and apologized to by Peterson but the grade has not yet been corrected and their son has been enrolled in summer school.

They described Nguyen as difficult and unavailable and often cruel to their son about excused absences.

The school spokesman said that 'there were challenges with the grading process' of the racist exam and they're looking into it.

'We will evaluate the exams of the students who received the test and our Academic Department will contact students whose final grade has been impacted,' school district spokesman Al Goldberg told DailyMail.com in a statement.

The school told DailyMail.com that Principal Jim Peterson (pictured) has apologized to each student's family personally

Nguyen, for the time being, has been put on administrative leave while an investigation begins.

Goldberg told DailyMail.com that the school district fully apologizes for the tests.

'Sacramento City Unified has zero tolerance for the use of language that is racist or perpetuates the use of racial stereotypes,' he said.

'[Peterson] took the transparent step of notifying the parents and guardians of the students who received the exam. In an email sent that evening, the principal stated that 'regardless of the intent behind them, the words that were chosen are not reflective of the safe, welcoming, and inclusive atmosphere we work to foster at LBHS.'

He added that the school has hired an independent monitor to supervise DEI efforts at the school.

'This work will continue in earnest as we seek to make every Sacramento City Unified school a safe, welcoming and inclusive center of learning for all,' he said.

DailyMail.com has reached out to Nguyen for comment.

California teacher's 'racist' biology exam horrifies students (2024)
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