Senator HEMBREE proposed the following amendment (419R091.SP.GH):

Amend the bill, as and if amended, PART III, the Read to Succeed Initiative, by adding an appropriately numbered new SECTION to read:

/SECTION __. Chapter 155, Title 59 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:

"Section 59-155-220 .(A) There is created the South Carolina Reading Panel to provide support and assistance to the department. The reading panel shall be composed of ten members appointed by the State Board of Education upon the recommendation of the State Superintendent of Education. Members must include individuals who have the highest expertise on reading instruction and shall include:

(1) three members from public or private institutions of higher education who are recommended to the State Superintendent of Education by the Commission on Higher Education;

(2) three members who are responsible for district reading plans or have exceptional reading expertise; and

(3) a t least three members who are classroom teachers.

(B) Members shall serve two-year terms and may be appointed to successive terms. Members may not receive compensation but may receive per diem and mileage, as provided for boards and commissions. A vacancy must be filled in the manner of the original appointment.

(C) The reading panel is responsible for the following duties:

(1) reviewing, selecting, summarizing, and disseminating basic research relating to reading, reading growth, reading assessment, and reading instruction that will contribute to an educator's knowledge of reading, benefit students in this State, and impact policy and practices;

(2) providing technical assistance to the department and written guidance to schools for improving the reading instruction of students in prekindergarten through the twelfth grade; and

(3) reviewing and commenting, in writing, on the State Reading Plan and district and school reading plans." /