Edwards to Help Rural S.C. Schools

Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards speaks to reporters on Thursday, Oct. 11, 2007 outside of Darlington High School in Darlington, S.C. after giving a speech to students. (AP Photo/Willis Glassgow) (Willis Glassgow - AP)

DARLINGTON, S.C. -- Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards on Thursday released a plan where teachers in poor, rural schools in early voting South Carolina would get a raise of up to $15,000 and 4-year-old kindergarten would be available to all children.

Edwards proposed a six-part plan intended to improve rural schools in South Carolina, where eight poor school districts have sued the state, challenging the way legislators fund public schools. The former North Carolina senator visited several rural schools Thursday.

Edwards has previously released some of the proposals. However, this plan was repackaged specifically for South Carolina, according to his campaign.

Edwards is not the only Democratic candidate to visit schools in this rural area. In August, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama visited a dilapidated school and said more federal funding was needed. And New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's first radio ad in the state referenced the rural schools.

The school districts' lawsuit has drawn national attention and spurred a documentary about conditions at the schools, dubbed the "Corridor of Shame." A ruling in the lawsuit is currently being appealed by the districts.

In his proposal, Edwards said college scholarships should be offered to students who commit to teaching in rural areas and a national university should be created to train teachers to serve in these areas.

Federal resources should be used to build or expand 1,000 schools and South Carolina's dismal graduation rate could be improved with second-chance schools for dropouts and smaller, alternative schools for students at risk of dropping out, according to the proposal.

Edwards, who was born in a rural area in the northwest part of South Carolina, also said he would reverse the cuts President Bush made to special education grants.

The so-called "Corridor of Shame" runs along Interstate 95 and the schools are predominantly black. Nearly half of the 2004 Democratic primary voters here were black.

Edwards also visited Summerton, where some of the town's residents sued in 1947 after the school district refused to give them a bus for the segregated schools. The case was later combined into the U.S. Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954 that ended school segregation.

"You should be proud of what your community has done. I want to say a personal thank you to what you have done and what your families have done," Edwards said.

Separately, Edwards campaign officials told The Associated Press they plan to increase the size of his staff in Nevada, another early voting state. Officials said about two dozen staffers will be added by Nov. 1, a tripling his Nevada operation. The plan includes opening two new offices in November, doubling the state total.