Job one for teachers in South Carolina public schools is to teach children to read, according to advocates of legislation that would refocus the state's school system.
Most educators wouldn't argue with that premise. But some are objecting to the approach put forward in a bill that will be up for debate in January called the Read to Succeed Act.
Students unable to read on grade level by third grade could have to repeat the grade, if the bill passes.
Thousands of teachers who were certified in subjects such as algebra or biology also would have to go back to school to take courses in how to teach reading, and they would probably have to pay for the training out of their own pockets.
Greenville County Schools officials say their district already has a reading program that has outperformed the state as a whole and shouldn't be required to change direction.
But the state Education Oversight Committee, an independent panel created by the South Carolina Legislature to hold schools accountable, says that only a statewide, systemic change of focus will end the cycle that leads to dropout and failure of so many students who get by without really learning how to read.
"The state has spent countless dollars in education on reading and our scores are basically still flat," said Barbara Hairfield, vice chair of the Education Oversight Committee and chairman of a subcommittee that undertook a study on the state's reading problems.
"Everybody wants to improve but everybody's out there doing their own thing, and it's not working," said Hairfield, who is also social studies curriculum coordinator for the Charleston County School District.