Bell, Ted

Lifelong educator and secretary of the U.S. Department of Education (1981–1984) during the first Reagan administration, Ted Bell (1921–1996) is best known as the force behind the seminal federal report, A Nation at Risk, released in 1983.

During his 1980 presidential campaign and early into his first term, Ronald Reagan had promised to close the newly opened department, claiming it was an unwanted and expensive expansion of the federal bureaucracy. Bell, who had served in the Office of Education during the Nixon and Ford administrations, had strongly supported the creation of a federal department. This legacy of support, coupled with Bell's lifelong service as a public school teacher, administrator, and university professor, earned him the lasting antipathy of conservative activists, many of whom had found a home in the new Reagan administration.

Bell was determined to keep a relevant federal presence in education but was repeatedly stymied by White House conservatives. He finally found success when he established a National Commission on Excellence in Education (NCEE). Bell had wanted this to be a presidential commission but garnered little support during the summer of 1981, particularly when plans were being drawn up to eliminate the department. Bell opted for the less prestigious national commission, and the NCCE was established in August. To insulate it from possible conservative criticism, he gave the NCEE a narrow charge: it would focus on managing excellence for K–12 education.

The NCEE spent the rest of 1981 and most of 1982 traveling throughout the United States collecting testimony regarding the condition of public education. Meanwhile, the Reagan administration's proposal to close the Department of Education was flatly rejected by Congress. In addition, the U.S. economy plunged into one of the worst recessions in decades. By March of 1983, with the country still in recession and Reagan polling badly, particularly on education, White House advisers planned on how to cope with the expected release of the NCEE report. Reagan's own policy preferences called for tuition tax credits for parents whose children attended private schools, a return of vocal prayer in public schools, and an end to mandatory busing for school desegregation. White House advisers suspected that the final NCEE report would diverge from these preferences.

When A Nation at Risk was released in April of 1983, it redefined the educational debates. Prior to its release, policy discussions largely centered on educational equity. But given its alarmist language and repeated linking of academic excellence to national economic competitiveness, A Nation at Risk generated enormous and sustained national attention. Reagan quickly embraced the report's alarmist tone but not the policy recommendations.

Bell was personally gratified that A Nation at Risk reshaped the debate on public education—particularly with the focus on academic excellence. The NCEE report also ensured that the Department of Education would survive long into the future. However, his time as secretary of education was running out. Bell continued to fight rancorous and losing policy battles with White House conservatives and was increasingly seen as ineffectual by the broader public. By December [Page 74]of 1984, with Reagan reelected in one of the largest landslides in U.S. history, Bell tendered his resignation. He returned to his home in Utah, serving as a professor and educational consultant. He died on June 22, 1996, in Salt Lake City.

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