There is more to know about the incident in which a high school teacher caused quite a stir by inserting questions that referenced obesity into an exam that the students were, of course, required to take. An understandable first reaction might be, “Just a moment, are we to understand that the gent educates young people about an obesity-related field, like nutrition or exercise? Is he perhaps the gym teacher?” But no: Tom Chan teaches math.
To digress for a moment from that odd discrepancy, it should be noted that the entire San Francisco United School District, where Lowell High School is located, enjoys an apparently well-functioning mechanism for conscientiously feeding children of all ages, several times per day if necessary. The menus, published via a special website, include such details as the calorie content of upcoming meals.
The financial details are unclear, but it seems to be free for most or all students. That is a topic for another day.
The intriguing question that comes to mind, the real head-scratcher, is, “How and why would a teacher of mathematics insert material, whether intended as humorous or not, about obesity, into a compulsory test?” Learning more about the circumstances of the accusation of wrongdoing and its consequences does little to clear up that question.
The status quo
All along, in the course of a more than 20-year teaching career, most of Mr. Chan’s kids have rated him highly, to the point where…
For many of us, Mr. Chan was not just a teacher; he was a source of encouragement and someone who genuinely believed in our success.
A former student wrote to the San Francisco Chronicle that Chan “went above and beyond in ways that are rare.” A report from SFist.com noted that many students “brushed his humor off as being ‘bad dad jokes,’ which the students interpreted as Chan’s way of making math more fun.” (Just to be clear, the phrase “bad dad jokes” denotes corny humor, not abusive fathers.)
Recently, for some reason, talk was going around about particular test questions that bothered some students, and consequently some parents, and the authorities. Two items were of particular concern, problems that involved “a ‘fat kid’ punted into the air and the cost of dating girls based on their weight.” As more individuals within the system became aware of the disturbance, more of them agreed that Chan’s language and behavior were perceived and received as fat-shaming, and also sexist.
When the press informed the public, the feathers hit the fan. Some students had never been comfortable with their math teacher’s style all along, and the ensuing publicity encouraged them to speak up. With public attention focused on the matter, the authorities had no choice but to suspend him pending further investigation.
Meanwhile, additional evidence was brought forward. Both teens and adults who had previously not felt that they needed to strictly follow the “See Something, Say Something” policy hardened their attitudes and added their observations and experiences to the pile. One report mentioned a 9th-grade algebra quiz question that had something to do with giving candy to a “fat kid.”
But then word got around, not only about this particular test, but earlier ones, as well as language that had been used in the classroom and elsewhere. A citizen remarked in an online forum that Chan had been known to “make gross generalizations about people who speak Cantonese,” which is not a positive quality.
Yet at the same time,
Hundreds of former and current students immediately defended Chan after the Chronicle’s coverage, signing a petition and urging officials to reinstate him.
A parent named Caimán Dorado wrote to SFist.com,
My kids, 2 girls!! …remember Mr Chan’s quirky jokes and say WAS NOT A BIG DEAL. He was popular to the kids boys and girls, a good creative teacher… These almost adult high schoolers who spend their lives online, understood Mr Chan was just trying to make calculus more creative interesting and fun.
Another parent wrote,
To be fair, when my kids were going to Lowell, the math and science teachers used a lot of goofy examples like that to keep the students engaged, although that was more in Physics and Calculus, as I recall.
But some current and former students went the other way, recalling additional details that made them uncomfortable, and sharing them with the student newspaper. Worse yet, the school authorities also cited as a reason for the suspension “other behaviors,” which various publications have mentioned, hinted at, or confirmed as fact.
It was common knowledge to anyone who frequented the same social media sites that Chan commented on some female students’ posts and sent them direct messages. (The journalist did not mention whether any male students received the same extracurricular attention.) Apparently, he had been heard to say, “Girls are either pretty, or they can do math,” which sounds pretty sexist, or at the very least, unnecessary and inappropriate.
This item does not sound good at all. As stated by SFist.com,
Some parents are also unhappy that he posted “Grades vs. Dignity” videos on YouTube of students dancing in exchange for extra credit.
At any rate, the authorities placed Chan on “indefinite leave,” and by March 25, he had resigned.
Your responses and feedback are welcome!
Source: “Find Your Menu,” SFUSD.edu, undated
Source: “S.F. teacher accused of sexist quizzes quits,” PressReader.com, 03/27/26
Source: “Lowell High School Teacher on Leave After Giving Students Quizzes Demeaning Girls, ‘Fat Kids’,” SFist.com, 03/03/26
Source: “Lowell High math teacher resigns amid probe into sexist, fat-shaming quiz questions,” Yahoo.com, 03/25/26
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