Fargo Forum: WF high school rethinking assignment to urge lawmakers to hike tobacco tax
WEST FARGO – Add to North Dakota’s tobacco tax or leave it alone?
That’s a question Sheyenne High School teachers agree would have been better left up to students to decide.
On Friday, senior government class students teamed up with a freshman health class in a collaborative project to write letters to local legislators about the tobacco tax rate in North Dakota. The students thanked lawmakers who voted to increase the tobacco tax in the state during the last session, and encouraged those who didn’t support a higher tax on tobacco to consider doing so in the future.
“For our state, we have very strict laws as far as tobacco in public buildings, but as far as tobacco tax, we are one of the lowest in the nation, and that’s what we are trying to deter,” health teacher Tom Kirchoffner told WDAY-TV.
The original intent was to send the letters to the legislators, but that’s not what happened.
“After this group of teachers did the project, they sat down and they debriefed it. What were the strengths of that project … and what were some of the areas for improvement?,” district spokeswoman Heather Konschak said Tuesday.
That debriefing took place Friday, she said.
“They realized as they chatted about it that one of the areas for improvement would have been that they gave the student group their perspective,” Konschak said. “The students weren’t able to discuss it and come up with their own perspective. And from a government class standpoint, that’s not what you do. You allow kids to discuss and form their own perspective and viewpoint.”
The teachers “decided that because that’s not what happened in the project, that they weren’t going to send the letters,” because it is possible that’s “not an accurate depiction of what the kids would have picked if they had been given the opportunity to do it on their own,” Konschak said.
The decision was “there should have been more open dialogue,” to let the students choose their positions on the issue, Konschak said.
Konschak said one of the teachers got the idea from a conference. The project was in addition to the required curriculum, she said.
Kirchoffner didn’t immediately return a phone message seeking comment Tuesday. He was unavailable because he’s a basketball coach and was traveling to a game, Konschak said.
North Dakota’s tax per pack of cigarettes is 44 cents, which puts it at 48th in the nation. Minnesota’s per pack tax is $2.90, putting it at No. 8 in the U.S., according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.
New York has the highest state tax per pack at $4.35, while Missouri has the lowest state tax at 17 cents per pack. The national average is $1.60 per pack, the campaign reports.
Those figures do not include local taxes. The highest state-local tax combination per pack is $6.16 in Chicago, with New York City second at $5.85 per pack, the campaign reports.
http://www.inforum.com/news/3904754-wf-high-school-rethinking-assignment-urge-lawmakers-hike-tobacco-tax
“For our state, we have very strict laws as far as tobacco in public buildings, but as far as tobacco tax, we are one of the lowest in the nation, and that’s what we are trying to deter,” health teacher Tom Kirchoffner told WDAY-TV.
The original intent was to send the letters to the legislators, but that’s not what happened.
“After this group of teachers did the project, they sat down and they debriefed it. What were the strengths of that project … and what were some of the areas for improvement?,” district spokeswoman Heather Konschak said Tuesday.
That debriefing took place Friday, she said.
“They realized as they chatted about it that one of the areas for improvement would have been that they gave the student group their perspective,” Konschak said. “The students weren’t able to discuss it and come up with their own perspective. And from a government class standpoint, that’s not what you do. You allow kids to discuss and form their own perspective and viewpoint.”
The teachers “decided that because that’s not what happened in the project, that they weren’t going to send the letters,” because it is possible that’s “not an accurate depiction of what the kids would have picked if they had been given the opportunity to do it on their own,” Konschak said.
The decision was “there should have been more open dialogue,” to let the students choose their positions on the issue, Konschak said.
Konschak said one of the teachers got the idea from a conference. The project was in addition to the required curriculum, she said.
Kirchoffner didn’t immediately return a phone message seeking comment Tuesday. He was unavailable because he’s a basketball coach and was traveling to a game, Konschak said.
North Dakota’s tax per pack of cigarettes is 44 cents, which puts it at 48th in the nation. Minnesota’s per pack tax is $2.90, putting it at No. 8 in the U.S., according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.
New York has the highest state tax per pack at $4.35, while Missouri has the lowest state tax at 17 cents per pack. The national average is $1.60 per pack, the campaign reports.
Those figures do not include local taxes. The highest state-local tax combination per pack is $6.16 in Chicago, with New York City second at $5.85 per pack, the campaign reports.
http://www.inforum.com/news/3904754-wf-high-school-rethinking-assignment-urge-lawmakers-hike-tobacco-tax
