EDUCATION . . . WHO NEEDS IT?

Two former Education secretaries, Republicans William Bennett and Lamar Alexander, say the Cabinet department should be abolished and its work left to the states and communities. "Most federal programs can be done elsewhere," said Bennett, who headed Education under President Reagan. Alexander, who held the post in the Bush Administration and plans to run for president in 1996, suggested a deregulated, locally-run education system composed of charter schools. The two addressed a conference sponsored in part by Empower America, the conservative politcal group that Bennett co-chairs.