William J. Bennett

Read our coverage of the third U.S. Secretary of Education, who served under President Ronald Reagan from 1985 to 1988

Explainer

President Ronald Reagan looks on as Attorney General William French Smith swears-in three new secretaries, including Secretary of Education William Bennett (left) at the White House, Thursday, Feb. 7, 1985 in Washington.
William J. Bennett, Third U.S. Education Secretary: Biography and Achievements
Background and highlights of William J. Bennett's tenure as the third U.S. Secretary of Education.
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Federal Bennett Gets Cool Reception as Hearings Start
Secretary of Education William J. Bennett received a generally skeptical reception as the House began hearings on the fiscal 1989 budget.
Reagan Walker, March 9, 1988
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3 min read
Education Bennett Decries 'Stultifying' Laws
"Omnipresent, stultifying" legal restrictions hinder talented educators and allow poor ones to make excuses for their performance, Secretary of Education William J. Bennett charges in a speech prepared for delivery late last week before the American Bar Association.
Julie A. Miller, February 10, 1988
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2 min read
Education Bennett Announces Panel Appointments

Advisory Council on Education Statistics: Margaret C. Broad, executive director and chief executive officer, Arizona Board of Regents, Phoenix; Ellis B. Page, professor of educational psychology and research, Duke University, Durham, N.C.; and Ray Turner, assistant superintendent for educational accountability, Dade County Public Schools, Miami.
February 10, 1988
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17 min read
Federal Bennett: Schools Fail To Prepare Blacks for College
Secretary of Education William J. Bennett reiterated his claim that poor academic preparation is responsible for the underrepresentation of black students on college campuses.
Robert Rothman, February 10, 1988
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1 min read
Education Bennett Defends His Stance on AIDS
At a conference on aids held here last week, Secretary of Education William J. Bennett contended that his views supporting widespread testing for the disease and education programs that emphasize the virtue of sexual abstinence are becoming more widely accepted.
November 25, 1987
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3 min read
Education Bennett Addresses a Message To Managua
Last Thursday, while Americans celebrated the 200th birthday of the Constitution, Secretary of Education William J. Bennett was winging his way south to deliver the Constitution's--and the Administration's--"message" about freedom in Nicaragua.
Julie A. Miller, September 23, 1987
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2 min read
Federal Bennett and the N.E.A.—A War of Words
The war of words between the U.S. Secretary of Education and the president of the National Education Association has escalated.
Lynn Olson, September 16, 1987
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3 min read
Federal Administrators Rebut Bennett's Critique of Burgeoning Bureaucratic 'Blob'
School administrators have launched a counterattack against critics who claim that an uncontrollable "blob" of bureaucrats is devouring money.
William Montague, September 9, 1987
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4 min read
Federal Bennett's Chapter 1 Proposal Criticized
House Democrats last week accused Secretary of Education William J. Bennett of attempting to limit the cost of the Chapter 1 program by portraying it as a "poverty program."
James Crawford, March 18, 1987
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4 min read
Student Achievement Bennett: Test Gains at 'Dead Stall'
Secretary of Education William J. Bennett last week pronounced the state of progress in student test scores "a dead stall."
Reagan Walker, March 2, 1987
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5 min read
Education Bennett: Minorities Can Meet Higher Goals
At an event commemorating the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr., Secretary of Education William J. Bennett said last week that educators can honor the slain civil-rights leader's dream by raising their expectations for poor and minority children.
Julie A. Miller, January 27, 1987
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2 min read
Education Bennett Praises Religion, But Raps Sectarianism
Secretary of Education William J. Bennett last week called for a reaffirmation of "religious values ... in public life," while simultaneously attacking the "invidious sectarianism" of fundamentalists "who claim that their religious faith gives them a monopoly on political truth."
James Crawford, September 24, 1986
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3 min read
Education Excerpts From Bennett's 'First Lessons'
Within the next decade almost 50 I million children will pass through the doors of America's elementary schools. This year alone, in 80,000 elementary schools across the United States, 31 million boys and girls ' will be taught by 1.45 million teachers. By the middle of the 1990's, enrollments will nearly equal those of the "baby boom" years following World Warn.
September 10, 1986
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22 min read
Education Bennett: School Clinics' 'Lesson' Wrong
U.S. Secretary of Education William J. Bennett has charged that school-based health clinics that dispense birth-control information and contraceptives "legitimate" undesirable sexual behavior and encourage students who "do not have sexual intimacy on their minds to have it on their minds."
Elizabeth Rose, April 23, 1986
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3 min read
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