TUCSON, Ariz. – A Spanish teacher at Empire High School near Tucson is taking heat from parents after she showed students doctored photos of celebrities that allegedly exaggerated racial stereotypes.

KVOA reports teacher Kristen Maurer recently showed students in her beginning Spanish class a series of images featuring celebrities and asked them to identify their emotions in Spanish. One image of President Obama was distorted with a massive nose, lips and ears, while another image depicted Oprah Winfrey with a startled look on her face and multiple neck rolls.

When Winfrey’s image appeared, Maurer allegedly “said she looked terrible, and then continued to count the rolls on her neck in Spanish,” the class’ only black student, Nazareth Hailey, told KVOA.

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The other images included Ronald McDonald and an altered image of Jennifer Aniston with a honking nose, he said.

“She said she doesn’t know if Ronald McDonald is a boy or a girl because she doesn’t know what’s down there in his pants,” Hailey said.

The student told the news site he took particular offense to the Obama and Winfrey images and complained about the allegedly racist lesson to his mother, who later confronted school officials.

“I was disgusted, embarrassed,” Hailey said. “I felt degraded as an African American male. Kind of felt humiliated.”

Hailey said the altered Obama photo elicited laughs from his classmates, which only made matters worse.

“I honestly wanted to get up and walk out and not come back,” he said. “But I had to sit there because my grades are important to me.”

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District superintendent Calvin Baker learned of the slide show after Hailey’s mother complained to the teacher, and offered an apology to the public.

“This was a mistake,” he said, adding that Maurer has shown the images to students for years without complaint. “It’s going to be taken care of. As soon as she found out that it was offensive to someone, she pulled those pictures.”

The news site pressed Baker on why the teacher didn’t realize the images were offensive to begin with, and he simply said “we all make errors in judgement from time to time,” Maurer has “self-corrected,” and as far as he’s concerned the issue is over.

But the issue is not over.

The KVOA news report prompted a scathing editorial in the Tucson Weekly about the incident, and criticisms from local black leaders.

“In this case, Baker was wrong ethically and educationally. He threw away an important teachable moment by ducking the controversy. His actions told every student and teacher at the school that you probably shouldn’t indulge in racist stereotypes or mockery, but it’s really not all that bad. If you do, try not to do it again, but don’t worry about it too much,” Tucson Weekly columnist David Safier opined.

Safier argued that had the same incident occurred in Ferguson, Missouri – site of the race riots tied to the justified killing of a young black criminal by a white police officer – would result in a week paid suspension, at the least. Baker said Maurer will not be disciplined, and called her an “outstanding teacher.”

“I wish I had 10 more like her,” he said.

Southern Arizona Black Chamber of Commerce executive director Clarence Boykins doesn’t think the district’s actions show it’s taking the complaints about the allegedly racist lesson seriously.

“I hate it, it’s like telling a racist joke,” Boykins said of the Obama picture. “To say I’m sorry … come on, what does that mean? Just sit down with the teacher. Maybe with some other community groups, some other organizations. We need to know why.”

Maurer declined to comment on the debacle, but issued a brief statement to KVOA:

During a recent lesson I used a slide show composed of a variety of celebrity images and asked students to identify the emotion depicted in the image. I was made aware that the parent of one of my students was offended by some of the images used. I immediately contacted the parent to apologize and shared that I would be changing the slide show for future use. I also shared that I had no intention of offending anyone, but understood her concerns.

During my ten years as a teacher at Empire High School, my number one focus has been on building positive relationships with my students. I love working with young adults and having a positive influence on their lives. I am deeply sorry for offending anyone with the images that I selected and want all of my students and parents to know that i have their best interest at heart.