The city of Philadelphia will consider a controversial way of funding pre-K by creating a 3 cent tax on every ounce of sugary soft drink sold in the city. Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney proposed a soda tax that requires beverage distributors to pay the tax, but grocery store owner Dany Vinas says the price increase will be passed off to the customer. While previous soda tax campaigns in other cities have been promoted as a health issue, Mayor Kenney argues that helping poorer families with childcare and improving their children’s education early on will help end the cycle of poverty. The plan will also help keep more students in school as they get older because they will have been developing literacy skills starting in pre-K, according to Kenney. Opposition voices to the tax include consumers who feel as though they are being personally punished for enjoying sugary drinks, grocery store owners who sell soda and are worried about losing money and members of the beverage industry. David Day of Day’s Beverages says the issue is also about fairness, pointing out that cakes, candy bars and cereals all have sugar. “You just cannot pick on soft drinks,” Day said. The city council is expected to vote on the mayor’s proposal soon.

pre-Kindergarten — day care with some educational content for children younger than five, provided by elementary schools or preschools subsidy — a sum of money granted by the government to assist an individual or business so that the price of a service may remain low or competitive