Three Wisconsin middle school teachers have resigned after they collaborated on a Social Studies assignment asking students how they would punish slaves, according to the Wisconsin State Journal.
The three teachers resigned after an investigation conducted by Axley Attorneys on behalf of the Sun Prairie Area School District found that the Patrick Marsh Middle School teachers collaborated on the assignment two or three years ago but the lesson was outside district curriculum and no one at any leadership level approved it.
The teachers were suspended in February over the assignment that asked students how to punish a defiant slave using Hammurabi’s code: “A slave stands before you. This slave has disrespected his master by telling him ‘You are not my master’ How will you punish this slave?”
“After discussions with the three teachers and their representatives, the three teachers were permitted to resign through voluntary separation agreements wherein the teachers remain on paid leave for the remainder of this school year and will not be working for the district in the future,” a statement made on behalf of the school district said.
District officials also sent a message to families sharing the finding of the investigation and said the assignment was “an egregious error that does not represent” the district’s commitment to racial equity.”
