A picture shows a real homework assignment given to students at a Florida middle school, part of which cited press coverage of former U.S. President Donald Trump’s claim that the 2020 election was “stolen” as an example of “bias.”
In early September 2022, readers asked us to verify whether or not a picture posted on Twitter showed a real homework assignment from a school in Florida. In truth, yes, students in at least one classroom at a Florida middle school received a homework assignment that included a section with an example combining the topics of media bias, former U.S. President Donald Trump, and claims of a “stolen” election.
The photo of the assignment was tweeted by Ron Filipkowski, a criminal defense attorney in Sarasota. It was captioned as, “6th Grade assignment today, Nolan Elementary School, Bradenton, FL, Desantistan.” (The last word of the tweet, “Desantistan,” was a partisan dig at Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who in the past showed strong support of Trump and the Trump administration’s policies.)
While the assignment was real, we soon found that there was quite a bit of context to unpack surrounding this issue.
According to ABC7 WWSB, the assignment was handed out by a substitute teacher at R. Dan Nolan Middle School in Bradenton, Florida.
Mike Barber, the communications director for the School District of Manatee County, told us by phone that the assignment was left behind by a teacher who had already been on leave...
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