Birmingham School Assignment Compares Obama To Primates: Report

BIRMINGHAM, MI — A Birmingham teacher was placed on administrative leave after officials said the teacher gave students an assignment comparing former President Barack Obama to primates, according to multiple reports.

High school biology students at Roeper Schools were given the assignment, which asked them to identify the primates from a gallery that included former President Barack Obama, according to reports.

The school issued an apology to parents and said the teacher admitted to not properly vetting the assignment, according to Fox 2 Detroit.

"On behalf of Roeper School’s leadership, I would like to acknowledge the disturbing racial offense contained in this worksheet and sincerely regret its use and the harm it has caused," the letter said.

Parents pay around $30,000 in tuition a year to send their children to the prestigious private school, which its website says that 31 percent of faculty and students are people of color.

"Justice requires that we respect the dignity and worth of every individual by providing equality of opportunity for those to whom opportunities have been historically denied," the school’s online homepage said. "At Roeper, we believe that our cooperative community respects and embraces diversity thereby emphasizing the relationship between the individual and the community."