WILLIAM BENNETT: EDUCATIONAL QUALITY

 

As a person heavily invested in schooling and learning, I am drawn to William Bennett. He has been a professor, university administrator, non-profit leader, government official, social commentator, conservative pundit, writer, historian, and is currently a semi-retired podcaster. Bennett is the author and co-author of about two dozen books.

Bennett was born on July 31, 1943, in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. A self-described “streetwise” kid, he attended both public and Catholic schools. His father left the family, and his mother moved to Washinton DC with William and his older brother Robert where he graduated from Gonzaga High School. With the absence of his father, Bennett’s football coach became a role model for him as did actors, athletes, and presidents. He believes that heroes and adult encouragement play key roles in a child’s moral development.

Bennett attended Williams College, a liberal arts school in western Massachusetts, to study philosophy and to play football. A lineman, he was nicknamed “The Ram” stemming from an incident in which he butted down the door to a female student’s dorm room..

In addition, he received wise counsel from his brother Robert, who went on to become a high-profile defense attorney. The 1960s was a tumultuous decade featuring the Civil Rights Movement and opposition to the Vietnam War among other events. At the forefront of unrest was the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) which was popular on college campuses, Bennett desired to join the SDS but brother Robert talked him out of it warning him that affiliation whit the group would hurt him in the future.

Upon graduation from Williams in 1965, Bennett enrolled at the University of Texas to study political philosophy under the tutelage of John Silber, another mentor who would guide Bennett. He also played guitar in a band named “Plato and the Guardians”, a nod to Republic by the esteemed ancient Athenian philosopher. Bennett also had a blind date with the rock star Janis Joplin; he remembered her as a rather sad and lonely person. Upon earning his PhD he was advised by Silber to teach at a state university rather than at liberal arts meccas like Oberlin or Williams. So Bennett taught philosophy and religion at the University of Southern Mississippi for a year before departing for Harvard to earning his law degree. He later recalled that in Mississippi he was considered a liberal and at Harvard a conservative but he had not changed his values.

Bennett spent the early 1970s in various teaching and administrative positions at Boston University where Silber had become president. He became the executive director of the National Humanities Center in 1976, Bennett’s involvement with the humanities and the national shift to conservatism following the perceived cultural excesses of the 70s decade also prompted a shift in Bennett. He changed his party registration from Democratic to Republican, He also found another mentor in Ronald Reagan who was elected president in 1980. Reagan appointed Bennett director of the National Endowment for the Humanities in 1981 and Secretary of Education in 1984.

As Secretary of Education, Bennett reinvented the cabinet position from secondary status to that of “bully pulpit” centered on the three Cs. As Bennett explained in an article entitled “Teaching the Right Stuff” (Kappan, October 26, 2020)-

·       Content- Every student is entitled to a rigorous and enriched curriculum infused with Western values.

·       Character- The ethos of our schools matters as character of our students is developed by rule, precept, and most importantly, by example.

·       Choice- Parents and students deserve to choose the schools best for them- public, charter, private, or parochial

Bennett, in addition, supported school vouchers, curriculum reform, classical education, and religion in education as well as decried the use of affirmative action. He urged stronger enforcement of drug laws on campuses. He opposed education bureaucracies, calling them “the blob.” He criticized schools for having low standards and it a regular practice to visit classrooms to teach.

Bennett’s pronouncements caused controversies, but he was supported by President Reagan. A story circulated in DC circles that during one cabinet meeting the President brought in copy of the Washington Post featuring an article dealing with Bennett. Bennett himself thought he was going to be chastised by the President for embarrassing the White House. Instead, Reagan said that Bennett had been busy and when were the other cabinet secretaries going to catch up with him. Just before Reagan left the presidency after two terms, Bennett resigned and began a private legal practice.

But Bennett’s hiatus from government service proved to be short. The new incoming president, George H.W. Bush, appointed Bennett to our first Director of National Drug Control Policy (aka “drug czar”). He brought the same activist mindset and practices to advocate against drugs as he did as Secretary of Education promoting quality education for all students. Bennett resigned from that position in 1990, and his best-selling work was The Book of Virtues, which he edited, was published in 1993. Other books by him focus on moral development, school curriculum, Western values, American patriotism, and Christian themes.

Bennett also served on boards of companies, especially those focusing on educational innovation. He currently writes for national publications and is a guest contributor on Fox News and other news outlets. As previously stated, Bennett is now a semi-retired podcaster and makes his primary home in North Carolina where he lives with his wife Elayne whom he married in 1982.

 

Lessons learned:

1.     Every American deserves a quality education regardless of zip code.

2.     A balanced education is infused with Western values augmented with Christian (and other religious) appreciation and American ideals.

3.     Work and service know no age limits.