Category Archives: early learning

early learning, Education Policy, Grocery Tax, Philadelphia, universal pre-K

NewsBreaker: Philly Grocery Tax is Bad Education Policy

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Mayor Jim Kenney (D-Philadelphia) is pushing a regressive beverage tax which targets his city’s poorest residents. The Mayor claims his tax will raise $400 million to fund myriad government programs, including universal Pre-K. The problem is the Mayor’s plan is doomed to fail. It’s a false promise.

Education experts are unanimous on the point that the first and best teachers are parents and caregivers. However, the Mayor’s tax increase will force Philly parents to work harder and longer to pay their bills and taxes. Working longer hours means less time with their children.

In this special “News Breaker” segment, The LangerCast is joined by the Heritage Foundation’s Lindsey Burke.  Lindsey discusses the Philly tax in the context of education policy, and it’s not surprising that Mayor Kenney’s proposal receives a Failing Grade when it comes to what’s best for Philly’s students and their families.

Lindsey is a distinguished expert on education policy, and her work has appeared in a wide array of national media outlets, including The Atlantic, Time, Newsweek, The Boston Herald, The Star-Ledger, The Washington Examiner, The Washington Times, The Daily Caller, National Review Online as well as CNN and Fox News Channel.

Click here to Listen to our Special News Breaker segment: LangerCastNewsBreaker: Philly Tax is bad Education Policy

early learning, education, Soda Tax, universal pre-K, War on the Poor

Philly’s Mayor Jim Kenney Targets Poor

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http://tinyurl.com/PhillySodaTaxHurtsPoor

Mayor Jim Kenney (D-Philadelphia) wants to add universal pre-Kindergarten to the city’s public schools. However, the city is overtaxed and the schools are in distress.

The Mayor’s plan is to impose a beverage tax–3 cents per ounce–on the residents of his city. At a press conference announcing the massive tax, Mayor Kenney said, “… this is not personal toward Big Soda, but there’s a lot of money being made off the backs of poor people.”

Who will be pay the tax? Ed Rendell, the former Democratic governor of Pennsylvania, said that Kenney’s tax “unfairly hits poor people.”  It’s Kenney who is seeking to raise money “off the backs of poor people.”

Experts in early-childhood care and education across the political spectrum agree that the first and best teachers for our children are parents and family members. However, Mayor Kenney has offered a tax scheme that will drain from families the earnings that would be better spent on quality child care, and cheat them out of the quality time devoted to their children.

Universal pre-K can be a worthy goal. However, it must be done right, not on the backs of Philly’s poorest families.

Click here to listen to our discussion of the mayor’s tax. We’re joined on The LangerCast by Michi Iljazi from the Taxpayers Protection Alliance.