On November 8, 2016, Missouri voters will decide whether to amend the state constitution to increase taxes on cigarettes to create a fund for early childhood education in the state. This essay examines the issue from several angles, not only in terms of potential benefits and costs, but also with regard to the logic of taking revenue from a tax on cigarettes to fund a program that is completely unrelated to smoking. Click on the link below to read the entire essay.
About the Author
Michael Q. McShane
Michael Q. McShane is Senior Fellow of Education Policy at the Show-Me Institute. A former high school teacher, he earned a Ph.D. in education policy from the University of Arkansas, an M.Ed. from the University of Notre Dame, and a B.A. in English from St. Louis University. McShanes analyses and commentary have been published widely in the media, including in the Huffington Post, National Affairs, USA Today, and The Washington Post. He has also been featured in education-specific outlets such as Teachers College Commentary, Education Week, Phi Delta Kappan, and Education Next. In addition to authoring numerous white papers, McShane has had academic work published in Education Finance and Policy and the Journal of School Choice. He is the editor of New and Better Schools (Rowman and Littlefield, 2015), the author of Education and Opportunity (AEI Press, 2014), and coeditor of Teacher Quality 2.0 (Harvard Education Press, 2014) and Common Core Meets Education Reform (Teachers College Press, 2013).
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