Terrel H. Bell
"We need a change in attitude and in the priorities of our people," Mr. Bell said. "We need to become more education-conscious and learning-oriented, and that's where I think our leaders can help us."
But Mr. Bell has made some connections with education-related businesses, and he has lent his likeness to Sylvan Learning Centers for advertisements that he says will run in several professional publications.
An item in the Times's "Washington Talk" column last Friday, citing unnamed Administration sources, reported that Mr. Bell will be among the first Cabinet members to step down following the election. The leading candidates to replace him, according to the Times's sources, are John R. Silber, the president of Boston University, and William J. Bennett, chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Secretary of Education Terrel H. Bell told a group of state education officials in Washington last week that it was probably not smart of him to make reference to the "dumbing down" of American textbooks in a recent speech.