Today’s lesson is how Big lie included it in a world history research paper distributed Wednesday by a sixth-grade substitute teacher at R. Dan Nolan High School in Bradenton, Florida.
It was a home sheet titled “How does a historian work?” and it’s meant to prepare students for Thursday’s test. A mother quizzed her child on his vocabulary list. The first six are evidence, source, primary source, secondary source, reliable source, and opinion.
“Then came number seven,” the mother, who asked to remain anonymous, later told The Daily Beast.
Saturday word is Prejudice and the mother was shocked by what came with it.
The media is often biased and will add words that convince you to think one way or another. Read these two statements from reporters after the 2020 election.
President Trump claims that the 2020 election has been stolen.
President Trump made wrong claims that the 2020 election has been stolen.
The first sentence only gives you information, while the second makes you believe he is wrong before you have all the facts.
Never mind that the whole world has all the truth and what the second statement makes you believe is the truth. And, by not admitting that former President Donald Trump’s claims have been proven false, the first one might make you imagine that his claims could be valid.
“It was really the example of bias I ever saw,” the mother later said. “It seems pretty out of place for a sixth grader.”
She certainly could have had any other examples that wouldn’t bring politics into the classroom. She showed the research paper to her husband.
“He read it and said, ‘What’s going on? ‘, she recalls.
They gave it to a neighbor who was an attorney. He also had the same reaction.
“We’re laughing, but it’s not funny,” said the mother.
Her sixth grader responded like a sixth grader, not understanding the dangers of the Big Lie.
“He said, ‘Oh, don’t worry about it, you’re making a big deal of it,’ she recalls.
She responded like a conscious mother of a sixth grader, telling him that he was too young to be politically indoctrinated. She was one of many parents who phoned the school. She said the principal promised to look into it.
One parent texted several friends a copy of the study sheet. It reached the ears of Ron Filipkowski, a former Florida defense attorney who uses social media to appeal to extreme right-wingers. He tweeted the section of the newspaper featuring The Big Lie.
A father later issued an anonymous statement through an intermediary.
“I am very unhappy that the teacher chose such a controversial example in an assignment that was supposed to teach bias in a world history class. There are many other examples that could have been used. And the way this question is worded will lead students to believe that the media has incorrectly assessed that the president’s statement is false. “
He continued, “And I would also add that using this example is inappropriate at a time when Trump STILL disputes the outcome of the 2020 election two years later and demands it be redone!”
The school board later released a statement of its own.
“The Manatee County school district is committed to adhering to the curriculum and instructional standards set forth by the Florida Department of Education and Florida Regulations,” it began.
The board attached a copy of the study sheet, adding that it was “based on chapter one of the following state-approved textbook: Exploring our past: World history, early times,Florida Edition, by McGraw Hill. The board should note that the book makes no mention of Trump nor the election, which he continues to claim was stolen but is not. Ban just said:
“This homework did not meet the expectations of the Manatee School District. A thorough review of future homework assignments in this course is ongoing and remaining issues related to this assignment will be addressed. “
The board concluded by saying, “Our students deserve the best education we can provide consistent with the curriculum and instructional standards set forth by the State of Florida.”
The problem in Florida is that curriculum and teaching standards are increasingly influenced by Governor Ron DeSantis. In May, he announced that the state Department of Education had rejected 41% of suggested math textbooks for being too sober.
“It seems that some publishers have tried to put a coat of paint on an old house built on the foundation of Common Core and spread concepts like racial fundamentalism, especially to elementary school students,” said DeSantis, “I am grateful that Commissioner Corcoran and his team at the department conducted a thorough check of these textbooks to ensure they comply with the law. “
Florida Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran did not fail his boss.
“Florida has become a leader in education under the vision and leadership of Governor DeSantis,” he said. “In terms of education, other states continue to follow Florida’s lead as we continue to strengthen parental rights by focusing on providing their children with a world-class education that are not afraid to teach or be exposed to dangerous and divisive concepts in our classroom. “
Meanwhile, DeSantis is so fixated on the position for the 2024 election that he continues to avoid giving a clear view of whether the 2020 election has been stolen. He has actively campaigned for Big Lie champions such as the GOP nomination for Pennsylvania governor Doug Mastrinio and the GOP nomination for Arizona governor, Kari Lake.
The aggregate effect of all those who continued the falsehood was that it filtered down even in a sixth grade study sheet in DeSantis’ home state. The mother of the sixth-grader, who was shocked by the bias, knew well that DeSantis was against what he said was leftist “teaching” in the state’s public schools. And now here it can be called the teaching of the right.
“It’s like, conveyed to whom?” the mother told The Daily Beast.
She tells her kids that whatever teachers or Trump or anyone else might say, the simple truth is that the 2020 election wasn’t stolen.
“I said, ‘This is a fact,’ she recalls.
That is on Wednesday. The mother waits for the results of Thursday’s test on the document in the report card.
“I care if he has to use his own biased example,” she told The Daily Beast. “And if they have to use Trump for extra points.”
