LAURINBURG — A recently submitted House bill could be a solution to raising the low reading levels in Scotland County.
House Bill 428, which is titled the K-3 Reading and Literacy Improvement Act, was submitted for review to the General Assembly last Thursday.
The bill requests additional teacher assistants to be put in every kindergarten through second-grade class and for a TA to float between three third-grade classes. If granted, $271,000,000 of the $23 billion state budget would be appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Public Instruction for the 2019-20 year. That amount would reoccur each year and go into effect July 1 if approved.
State Rep. Garland Pierce, D-Wagram, shared his take on how the bill could help children in Scotland County and statewide.
“One of our main focuses is literacy, (the teacher assistants) would take children to the side and help with reading (as well as) assist the teacher in instruction,” said Pierce. “The early years are very formative and we want every student to have by the end of third grade mastered the third-grade reading level.”
Pierce added that, in school, it gets harder for students to keep up after third grade (if students struggle with reading) when classes start advancing into more difficult subjects and the funding could enhance the reading level of students.
“Reading is fundamental, everything we do requires reading so we need to master it,” said Pierce. “Third grade is a pivotal place and they need to be prepared to move forward.”
Scotland County Superintendent Ron Hargrave agrees that the bill would give teachers additional help especially for third grade.
“We do not have teacher assistants for third grade, in terms of legislation, any support would benefit students here,” said Hargrave. “Having additional TAs in the classroom is very much needed. It would be a huge help (and) impact on teachers when third graders begin EOC testing.”
HB428 along with other bills will be voted on Wednesday by appointed committees at the General Assembly in Raleigh.
Jael Pembrick can be reached at 910-506-3169 or jpembrick@laurinburgexch.wpenginepowered.com.
