TWO months ago, Lauro F. Cavazos, the nominee for Secretary of Education, was treated with little respect by his colleagues in the higher education community. The nomination of Cavazos--the president of Texas Tech and the former Dean of Tufts Medical School--was widely perceived as a blatantly political move to help Vice President George Bush with the Hispanic vote, especially in Texas.

"They had decided on a Hispanic [to fill the post]," said Richard Rosser, president of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, in explaining the Cavazos selection earlier this year. "It's quite obvious that was a very important factor in the decision." Other higher education officials took the same condescending view towards Cavazos, viewing him as a "token" member of the Cabinet and as a lightweight who would meekly preside over the Education Department during the twilight of Reagan's term.

No longer. Cavazos' nomination sailed unanimously through the Senate, and for good reason. The Senate's approval of the nominee reflected a widespread support for Cavazos and what he represents. If one is to believe his testimony before the Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources last month, Cavazos's style and philosophy differ quite dramatically from those of his predecessor, William J. Bennett.

Unlike the flamboyant and outspoken Bennett, Cavazos does not come to the post with an ideological axe to grind or a constituency to alienate. Unlike Bennett, who seemed to take pleasure in refusing to meet with leaders of the education community and asserted that they were merely interested in obtaining more federal money for their programs, Cavazos says he is ready to build a new consensus with Congress and educators.

YET Cavazos should not be viewed as a tool for the higher education community; indeed, at Texas Tech, Cavazos antagonized the faculty by proposing that the performance of tenured professors be reviewed every five years.

While Bennett became the vocal point man for the Reagan Administration as it attempted to slash student loan programs and shift the burden from grants to loans, Cavazos has publicly disagreed with such a policy and has said that he will "do everything I can to get the best funding possible for the Department of Education." He has also advocated an increase in Pell Grants to low-income students--a move that most experts view as vital to reducing defaults on federal loans.

Cavazos' recent agreement with Congress to delay cuts in federal funds to schools with high default rates indicates a far more conciliatory and cooperative attitude toward Congress than Bennett ever showed. Such cuts--Bennett's parting shot in his last week in office--would unjustly punish schools with high percentages of lower-income students.

Unlike Bennett, Cavazos is a strong advocate of bilingual education as a means of reducing the high dropout rate among Hispanic high school students.

CAVAZOS is the last in the series of highly-respected, non-controversial Administration officials appointed in the waning years of the Reagan presidency who should have been there all along.

Nearly two years ago, former Senator Howard Baker replaced Donald Regan as Chief of Staff to restore some order to the chaos that prevailed in the White House during the Iran-contra scandal. Last year, Frank Carlucci stepped in as Secretary of Defense and immediately began to attack the bloated military budget that his predecessor, Caspar Weinberger, had largely ignored.

To revive public trust in a Justice Department plagued by the scandalridden Edwin Meese, then Institute of Politics Director Richard Thornburgh, who had earned a reputation for integrity during his tenure as governor of Pennsylvania, took the post of Attorney General. Thornburgh's nomination, like Cavazos's, received unanimous confirmation from the Senate earlier in the summer.

Coming after Bennett's divisive tenure, Cavazos represents a refreshing change for both legislators and educators. Four more years is the very least that this pragmatic, low-key leader deserves.