Bennett to Quit in September; Plans to Make Speeches, Write

Education Secretary William J. Bennett, a frequent critic of low standards in America’s schools and colleges, announced today that he will leave President Reagan’s Cabinet in mid-September.

Bennett, often a magnet for controversy during his 3 1/2-year stint, signaled in April that he intended to step down in the fall, a few months before the Reagan Administration draws to a close.

Bennett’s spokesman, Loye Miller, said the secretary met today with the President and later with Education Department staff members to say that he intends to leave his position in mid-September.

Bennett told the staff he had recommended that Linus Wright, the undersecretary of education and a former superintendent of schools in Dallas, be nominated to fill the post for the final months of Reagan’s term. There was no immediate word from the White House, however, on who would be nominated.

Bennett told the staff and the President that he wants to do some speaking and write a book.

In a jocular reference to the furor over former White House Chief of Staff Donald T. Regan’s memoirs, Bennett “said to the President: ‘Not that kind of book. A book about education,’ ” his spokesman related.

The brash, combative Bennett has clashed repeatedly with teachers’ unions, quarreled with the surgeon general over AIDS education, accused college presidents of being greedy and upbraided Harvard and Stanford universities for changes in their curriculum.