The following questions appeared on a sixth-grade math test given to thirty students at Horatio N. May Elementary School in Chicago:

• "Raoul is in prison for six years for murder. He got $10,000 for the hit. If his common-law wife is spending $100 per month, how much money will be left when he gets out of prison and how many years will he get for killing the bitch that spent his money?"

• "Jose has 2 ounces of cocaine and he sells an 8-ball to Jackson for $320, and 2 grams to Billy Joe for $85 per gram. What is the street value of the balance if he doesn't cut it?"

• "Johnny has an AK-47 with a 40-round clip. If he misses six out of 10 shots and shoots 13 times at each drive-by shooting, how many drive-by shootings can he attend before he has to reload?"

  

• "Rufus is pimping three girls. If the price is $65 for each trick, how many tricks will each girl have to turn before Rufus can pay for his $800-a-day crack habit?"

• "If the Crips are driving a car at 65 m.p.h. towards the Bloods, who are driving a car in the opposite direction at 40 m.p.h., how many shots will the Crips and Bloods exchange before their assault weapons jam?"

Parents say first-year teacher, Charles Routen, 45, should be fired. The school's 11-member Local School Council voted to dismiss Routen, but Board of Education spokeswoman Lauri Sanders said only the board has that authority.

Teachers say the test sounds like a parody that has been circulating among educators for months. "I don't think anyone really took it seriously," said Russ White, superintendent of schools in Wilmington. But, White added, "I can't imagine a teacher actually giving it to a class." Charles Johnson of the Chicago Associated Press opined, "He was obviously rather incompetent."

Cynthia Bailey, whose son is in the class, said Routen admits making a mistake and has offered to quit. "He went on to say that he felt that maybe this was the only way he could relate to the children," she said.

"I don't see anything wrong with the test," said student Natasha Chambers, 13. "He wrote one problem [about the number of bullets in an AK-47 rifle] on the board, and then said we didn't have to take it. Most of us took it."

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