November 9, 1984

The Reagan Administration may seek early, bipartisan help from Congress to shape a simpler tax code, an official said today. Seeking compromise with Democrats early in a Congressional session rather than later would be unusual for a President newly installed with a historic re-election margin. But an Administration official said today that the strategy was being looked at because proposals for a flat tax are already drawing interest in Congress. The Republicans did not win control of the House and Republican control in the Senate was eroded; maintaining it appears to politicians to require moves for moderation.

The F.B.I. says it has evidence linking five people arrested this week in connection with the slaying of a New Jersey state trooper to 10 bombings in the New York metropolitan area. According to testimony in Federal court here, the F.B.I. found handwritten descriptions of two corporate office buildings bombed in the New York City area this year in searches of the rented homes of the suspects, who were arrested Sunday in the Cleveland area. A group called the United Freedom Front took responsibility for the bombings, as well as for eight others in the area since December 1982. The F.B.I. also said it had found a timing device similar to one on an unexploded bomb planted at a third company, and copies of United Freedom Front communiques identical to those distributed after six of the bombings.

EVERYTHING seems to be working out right for Carter Brey, the 30-year-old cellist who will play Dvorak's beloved concerto with the American Symphony Orchestra on Sunday. He has racked up impressive competition victories, made debuts with several major orchestras, garnered rave reviews wherever he has played, won the enthusiastic support of Rostropovich and, most recently, bought a cello. Only just now? ''Believe it or not,'' Mr. Brey said the other day, ''I played every one of my public appearances until this July on a $750 Czechoslovak cello that my parents bought with a savings bond when I was 17. It was sort of infamous in the instrumental world: 'Brey's Box.' People were nice about it, but they couldn't quite believe I played it.

Twenty-six young people from abroad whose families have been wrenched apart by war arrived in New York City this week to begin telling America's children of life growing up in the shadow of destruction. Their hope, they say, is that by telling their stories to Americans they will meet in visits to 36 cities over the next 12 days, they may diminish the threat of war. ''It seems almost unbelievable that I could forgive and forget about what happened to my people,'' said Arn Chorn, an 18-year-old refugee from Cambodia, who now lives in New Hampshire with foster parents. He is an advisor to the young people on the tour, who are 14 to 17 years old. ''Children have an ability to forgive and forget.''

Education Secretary T .H. Bell announced today that he was resigning from President Reagan's Cabinet, saying he had witnessed the start of ''a real renaissance of American education.'' Mr. Bell delivered a ringing reaffirmation of the Federal role in education and candidly acknowledged having disagreed with David A. Stockman, director of the Office of Management and Budget, over the proper level of Federal spending for education. Mr. Bell also lamented the fact that he was still a target of criticism by conservative Republicans who wanted to reduce Federal aid to education. Education Gets Top Priority ''To move in the radical direction of abolishing all of our programs and dramatically withdrawing all Federal concern and support of education would be a mistake,'' Mr. Bell said at a news conference. ''I think education is so special that it ranks in priority alongside and possibly ahead of the Department of Defense. But I have to acknowledge, when I say that, it's a biased view.''