Vicki Phillips, former School District of Lancaster superintendent, resigned Wednesday as the leader of Portland Public Schools in Oregon to join the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, according to the Oregonian newspaper.

Phillips served as superintendent of the School District of Lancaster from 1998 to 2003, when Gov. Ed Rendell tapped her to become the state's secretary of education. She left in 2004, after one year, for the position in Portland.

Phillips is set to join the foundation as director of U.S. education grants, the newspaper reported.

The Gates Foundation, a charitable organization, provides millions in grants to schools around the nation. Bill Gates is chairman of Microsoft.

Phillips left her Lancaster post before internal and state audits found that during her administration and that of her successor, Ricardo Curry, controls on hiring and retaining of consultants had deteriorated.

Curry, first hired by Phillips to be an assistant superintendent, was later convicted on a federal mail-fraud charge. He served a two-year sentence.