A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                Contact: Rick Miller June 24, 1996                                              (202) 401-3026

STATEMENT BY
U. S. SECRETARY OF EDUCATION
RICHARD W. RILEY
Regarding the Death of Former Secretary of Education Terrel H. Bell

I am deeply saddened at the death of my friend and colleague, Ted Bell. American education has lost one of its greatest leaders and champions.

Ted Bell was our national school bell, ringing in a new era of commitment to excellence.

He courageously issued the report, A Nation at Risk in 1983, which warned us of a "rising tide of mediocrity" in our schools. His boldness and leadership inspired millions of Americans in thousands of communities to take part in a great national movement to make their schools better and provide a quality education to every child.

He helped make the U. S. Department of Education into a positive force for change and improvement, and helped make sure that education remained a top national priority. On a personal level, his integrity and selfless devotion to duty set the standard for all secretaries and everyone in the department who would follow in his footsteps.

Above all, he put children ahead of politics. Ted Bell knew that we don't educate children as Democrats, or as Republicans, or as independents. We educate them as Americans.

Teacher, principal, superintendent, state leader, education commissioner, secretary, author -- Ted Bell was all of these.

He found "A Nation at Risk." He leaves behind a nation on the move. No man could have a greater legacy.