photo by flickr user heraldpost

Update:  Applications are being accepted from qualified candidates through this Friday, September 2, 2011, via the HorryCountySchools.org website.  There are three types of positions open: High School Reading Intervention Teacher, Middle School Reading Intervention Teacher, and Elementary School Reading Intervention Teacher.

First Report - August 23, 2011:  The Horry County Board of Education voted, unanimously, on Monday to hire 40 new teachers at a cost of $2.8 million. 

According to this WPDE report, the teachers hired will be reading interventionists, one going to each Horry County school.  The money comes from extra state funding. 

According to the South Carolina Department of Education's website, grades three through eight take the Palmetto Assessment of State Standards (PASS) test, which measures student performance on South Carolina Academic Standards.  In Horry County, 15.7% of third graders tested in 2010 did not meet the English Language Arts, which includes reading and researching, portion of the South Carolina Academic Standards.  Of all eighth graders tested, 29.1% did not meet the standard - a shocking one-third.  Statewide, the scores are 20% and 32.2%, respectively, so while our test scores raise concern, they are better than the state's average.

The data shows that as children progress from third to eigth grade, their reading competencies decline.  So while adding 40 teachers to the Horry County school system won't equal the smaller class sizes many parents hope for, the anticipated result will be higher levels of literacy in our students.

For more information on PASS testing and scores in South Carolina and Horry County, visit the South Carolina Department of Education website