California Teacher Sells Ad Space on Math Tests

Math tests are by definition extremely lame, so you'd think advertisers wouldn't want to be associated with the bane of most students' existences.

That didn't stop math teacher Tom Farber from reaching out to local businesses and parents to sponsor his exams. Faced with the latest round of budget cuts at Rancho Bernardo High School in suburban San Diego, Farber has been covering his supply expenses and copy costs by selling ad space -- $10 for a quiz, $20 for a chapter test, $30 for a semester final.

After the local newspaper featured his program, he soon got plenty of inquiries about the ads. He's already taken in $350, and his end-of-semester exam is sold out. The practice has worried some anti-commercialization groups, but the school's administration supports Farber's entrepreneurial spirit.

We understand that around two-thirds of the ads are inspirational messages underwritten by parents, though we can't think of anything more annoying than a message from mom saying, "You can do it!" while staring into the mystifying abyss that is calculus.