Story updated
Updated at 3:13 with additional quotes on timing and thoughts by Huffman.
NASHVILLE - Tennessee Education Commissioner Kevin Huffman, under whose tenure students made large gains in achievement but who nontheless became a lightning rod for criticism from teachers and many local school superintendents and some state lawmakers, is leaving, Gov. Bill Haslam announced this afternoon.
Haslam said in a news release that Huffman is leaving to "move into the private sector." A successor will be named later, the governor said.
Education Commissioner Kevin Huffman"Improving education in Tennessee has been a top priority for our administration, and having someone of Kevin's caliber to lead the charge during this time of significant progress has made a difference," Haslam said. "I am very grateful for his commitment to our students, educators and parents, and I wish him well as he continues his commitment to education."
Asked when Huffman will depart, Haslam spokesman David Smith said by email "by the end of the year likely. He'll help transition when a new commissioner is named."
Huffman called it an "extraordinary honor to serve nearly one million students. I am incredibly proud of the accomplishments of Tennessee students."
"More importantly," Huffman said, "I am convinced that the state is on the cusp of even more significant breakthroughs as the reforms in our K-12 system link with the opportunity of the Tennessee Promise."
Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam speaks to supporters in Nashville after being re-elected Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2014.Before joining the Haslam administration, Huffman, 44, spent nearly two decades working with public education systems as a teacher, lawyer, non-profit executive and non-profit board member.
The governor's office notes Tennessee made "historic gains in academic achievement during" the tenure of Huffman, a former Teach for America executive, whose sometimes-brash style rubbed many educators and sometimes Haslam's fellow Republicans in the Legislature the wrong way.
In 2013, the governor and Huffman celebrated as the National Assessment of Educational Progress, also known as the nation's report card, announced Tennessee had the largest gains across fourth and eighth grade math and reading of any state in the country.
In 2014, the state also made its largest gains on the ACT since all high school students began taking the assessment.
But a group of Tea Party-style Republicans, angry over Huffman and the state's embracing of Common Core education standards, at one point called on Huffman to either resign or Haslam to fire him.