Next Monday is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Like many holidays, we might revere the person or the event, but eventually its full meaning slides from our grasp. We oftentimes tend to allow it to enter into the category of a “day off” from work or school. While for some this may be the case, I hope this never happens to one of the greatest champions of human rights in the past century.

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If we have heard any mantra in recent decades related to education, it’s the message that you MUST go to college if you hope to earn more and learn more in your lifetime. It’s a worthy ideal and one that I hope has had a positive influence on parents and students alike.

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As December folds into January, the media begins writing about New Year’s resolutions. These news reports offer a variety of possible resolutions and also how to keep those annual promises. We’re familiar with popular pledges usually related to diet, fitness and getting organized. Then, in about a month, we can anticipate that more than one-fourth of those promises will have wilted, according to StatisticBrain.com.

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This past weekend I was able to host a bowling/pizza party to culminate my first “Jump into Reading Contest”. The contest took place from October 1^st to November 23^rd, and was geared towards igniting the love of reading in children from grades 1^st – 4^th grades. When I was a kid, my parents instilled the joy and passion of reading into me that still stays with me to this day. Falling into a book, no matter the subject, opens new doors of education and fulfillment. For our youth, it helps to expand their educational experience and crystallize the lessons learned on a daily basis in the classroom.

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I was recently asked to speak at a community gathering about some of the challenges facing families today. This engaging conversation was punctuated by many in the audience who commented about the growing cost of child care and how it was placing a significant burden on their families. While this particular dialogue played out at this one gathering, I am sure it could be replicated in communities all across New Jersey. Access to affordable and high quality child care is proving to be a stumbling block as working families try to climb the ladder of success.

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When Pfizer announced it was buying Dublin, Ireland-based Allergan in a move that would create the largest pharmaceutical firm in the world, we felt the ill-effects throughout New Jersey. It didn’t take long for sharp-eyed citizens and the media to suggest that this was a bad deal for American taxpayers.

Pfizer, which maintains a major campus in Peapack, N.J., also known as Peapack-Gladstone, a borough in Somerset County, made it clear that this acquisition of Allergan would make Dublin its new tax home. Reducing this move to its simplest terms, often referred to as a tax inversion, would allow Pfizer to renounce its U.S. citizenship (as a company) and become an Irish business citizen. This would greatly reduce its tax liability.

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