Trump’s Stolen Election Claims Focus Of Bradenton School Assignment

BRADENTON, FL — A middle school homework assignment in Bradenton has drawn criticism from many on social media for saying former President Donald Trump's stolen election claim is fact.Trump’s denials about the election's outcome are the focus of the assignment, which was given to sixth-grade students at Nolan Middle School. (Read the entire assignment below.)

Trump and his allies have repeatedly said the presidential vote in 2020 was rigged. Those claims have been debunked by members of his staff and administration, including former Attorney General William Barr, White House lawyers Pat Cipollone and Eric Herschmann and others, CNN reported.

Ron Filipkowski, a Sarasota attorney who previously served as commissioner and vice chairman for the 12th Circuit Judicial Nominating Commission, tweeted about the assignment Wednesday night. He said a student’s parent shared it with him.

Michael Barber, director of communications, family and community engagement for the School District of Manatee County, confirmed to Patch that the assignment was given to students Wednesday by a substitute teacher.

“This homework assignment does not meet the expectations of the School District of Manatee County. A thorough review of future homework lessons in this course is taking place and remaining issues related to this assignment will be addressed,” he said. “Our students deserve the very best education we can provide in accordance with the curriculum and instructional standards set forth by the state of Florida.”

Barber shared the entire assignment with Patch. The homework is based on chapter one from the Florida Edition of “Discovering Our Past - A History of the World Early Ages” by McGraw Hill, a state-approved textbook, he said.

The worksheet is titled “How does a historian work,” and asks students about sources, interpretation and points of view.

Question No. 7, which focuses on Trump, deals with bias.

The first part of the question is a fill-in-the-blank: “Bias can be created by inserting suggestive ________ into statements.”

Then, it asks students to read two statements made by reporters following the 2020 presidential election.

The first statement reads, “President Trump made claims that the 2020 election was stolen.”

The second statement reads, “President Trump made false claims that the 2020 election was stolen.”

“The first sentence is just giving you information, while the second sentence leads you to believe he is wrong before you have all of the facts,” the worksheet said.

Filipkowski’s original post was retweeted thousands of times and had more than 15,000 likes as of Friday afternoon.

One Twitter user who responded to him, @SerenaGoerz, wrote, “As a high school English teacher who teaches bias, the real definition and examples, this really makes my head explode!”

Another commenter, @donnadomore, responded, “Can't we teach bias without referencing politics? Kids are too young to be exposed to today’s political climate. We shouldn't indoctrinate them the way Hitler did with the children in Germany.”

Read the complete assignment below: