Julie Davis Bell is the Education Program Director for the National Conference of State Legislatures. She has been with NCSL for 17 years and has directed the Education Program for 15 years. In that capacity she oversees the 12 person Education Program staff and is responsible for setting Program priorities, responding to constituent needs and requests, developing new education projects, and interfacing with other national education policy organizations. She also serves as the program policy specialist for higher education issues. She recently published articles in State Legislatures magazine on college affordability, school safety, class size reduction and educational adequacy. Prior to joining NCSL she was a policy associate with the Center for Policy Research in Denver and taught political science courses at the University of Colorado. She received her Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California at Davis in 1986.