Gov. Ted Strickland called Ohio's schools superintendent "one of our nation's premier education leaders" as she announced her resignation about two months after he criticized her as being neither a leader, an advocate nor a good manger.

A story from the AP says, Susan Tave Zelman announced Wednesday that she will resign when a new superintendent starts and will remain in an advisory role until December.

In February's State of the State address, Strickland had threatened to strip Zelman's authority in a move to give his office more control over schools by creating a new education chief accountable to him instead of the state Board of Education.

But the Republican-controlled Legislature has not moved to authorize Strickland's plan. And the state Board of Education, which is searching for a replacement for Zelman with the governor's input, still opposes the changes.

Zelman has led primary and secondary education in the state for nine years, overseeing a system with about 1.8 million students.

"Academic performance has improved measurably," Zelman said of her time in the job. "School funding has increased. And the Ohio Department of Education has been re-engineered to serve Ohio's 600-plus school districts with a stronger customer-service focus."