Letters: Corporations should help pay for pre-K

ISSUE | SODA TAX

Consumers' burden

Mayor Kenney's proposed sugary-beverage tax would be regressive and would pass the cost of public education on to the working poor.

Dr. Barbara Gold, vice chair of the Food Trust, wrote, "The proposal seeks to direct a fraction of the beverage industry's multibillion-dollar annual profits to pay for expanded pre-K programs and community schools . . ." ("Not a grocery levy," April 18). If that is true, why would consumers be the ones paying for pre-K and community schools? And, why isn't the city knocking on Comcast's or Aramark's door? Or reinstating payments in lieu of taxes so that the University of Pennsylvania and Temple University pay up?

There's plenty of wealth in this city, but you wouldn't know it by looking at our neighbors. We're the poorest big city in America.

If we can pass judgment on the working poor for indulging in sugary drinks too often, we can't look the other way when corporations pay their employees less than $15 an hour, bust unions, and fight paid sick days. If we want strong public schools and a strong economy, we need corporations that will invest in our city.

|Mindy Isser, Philadelphia