White House Wants Cigarette Tax To Fund Pre-K

Forget that pre-K isn't so effective, or that cigarettes are already highly taxed

California is seen as a shining example of how tobacco taxes can be used to both dissuade smoking and also improve children's health and readiness for school. Now President Obama is following California's lead. When he presents his budget Wednesday, the president will outline a similar scheme to fund universal preschool, the White House has confirmed to various media outlets.

After Prop 10 passed in 1998, California became one of the first states to raise taxes on cigarettes to fund early education programs. A new agency, First Five California, was created to hand out the money to schools and nonprofits to run education and health programs for children under five.