^{The Bottom Line} Timing Is Everything

Timing is everything. On the evening of Friday, April 21, I walked into the pre-reception of The Heritage Foundation’s 50^th Anniversary Gala, hoping to see someone I knew in the sea of people arriving in black-tie attire.

Within less than two minutes, I spotted a familiar face — a face I knew from watching his nightly show, “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” on the Fox News Channel. Tucker Carlson was the evening’s keynote speaker.

I took a few steps to the side, distancing myself from the growing crowd arriving at the event. Next thing I knew, Tucker (and an accompaniment of men in suits I assumed were providing event security) was walking straight toward me.

Without hesitation, I took the opportunity to introduce myself. Tucker’s affable, high-spirited personality made the conversation fun yet also meaningful. We chatted briefly about my work and posed for a quick picture.

Then jokingly, as the moment called for, I asked Tucker when he was going to have me on his show. His response was to eagerly take my business card then stretch out his arms full length trying to decipher the tiny, light-colored print. With convivial laughter he exclaimed, “I can’t see this without my reading glasses!”

His laughter was contagious. Everything about the moment was light and fun and carefree. And, due to what would transpire immediately following the weekend — Fox News’ shocking outright ousting of Tucker on Monday, April 24 — this interaction will be etched unforgettably in my mind.

As Tucker said in a video a few days after the news broke, “When honest people say what is true calmy and without embarrassment, they become powerful….True things prevail.…There is hope.”

That is what we are committed to with our work at the American Center for Transforming Education — calmy and without embarrassment, speaking the truth because we know there is hope.

Our national reach continues to expand rapidly to both educate the American public and influence key leaders. There is no shortage of opportunities to advance our timely K-12 work — on behalf of families and the future of our country. But we need your help.

We’re looking to raise $30,000 this month to allow us to seize these opportunities. Will you please help us expand this essential work of advancing educational freedom and enacting meaningful reforms to better serve students and their families?