Salinas high school assignment causes confusion for some parents

What started as a classroom assignment aimed at teaching after students about taxation without representation caused major confusion after someone posted a photo of it on Twitter.

Alisal High School sophomores in Steven Munoz’ world history class were handed a letter addressing their parents and informing them the students would be charged for a number of things. That included, for instance, 10 cents for assignments and 20 cents for late assignments.

The letter was fake. Munoz uses it each year as a way of teaching students about the issues of taxation without representation that led up to the Revolution War. After the students expressed their shock and outrage over the proposed charges, Munoz explained the letter wasn’t real, but rather, was a way for them to understand the concept of unjust taxes.

However, at least one student snapped a cellphone picture of the letter and posted it to a social media site without that caveat. The letter quickly spread to parents, who believed it was real.

Alisal High School officials said Friday that they received a number of phone calls from concerned parents.

Munoz said he has used the assignment every year for the past seven that he has taught at Alisal and this is the first time he’s encountered this kind of problem. He told NewsChannel 5 reporter Michelle Pulido this incident may cause him to reconsider his lesson plans for next year.