Well, now I feel bad for the slave math” teacher”

The third-grade teacher responsible for writing those “cross-curricular” word problems that included references to slave beatings is a teacher no more.

Luis Rivera submitted his letter of resignation on Thursday and, well, it’s actually kind of sad ...
“I did not write those questions with the intent of being malicious or offensive. I wrote poorly written questions in an attempt to enhance student achievement. I have brought shame to my family, and my school. For that, I cannot apologize enough.”

“As a minority myself, I understand the trials and tribulations associated with being a minority. There was no intent to harm, or to offend. Rather, I was trying to make connections for the students, while completing my assignment of cross-curricular integration.”

Creating math problems about how much cotton Frederick Douglass picked and how times he got whipped a week represents a lapse in judgement, but people have really spent the past couple weeks foaming at the mouth about it. A guy named Henry White — who, the AJC pointed out, doesn’t even have kids — called the incident an “egregious act of assault on the minds of a kid by an adult” at a Gwinnett County School Board meeting. And several parents said they wanted the school to make counseling available to their children. I don’t want to say they’re overreacting ... but maybe they’re overreacting.