South Carolina public schools will soon get the first two installments of $88.6 million in federal aid to underwrite high-intensity reading instruction over the next 5½ years.

State and federal officials announced the grant Tuesday at a Richland 1 elementary school.

The bulk of the money must be used to help children in kindergarten through grade three with poor reading skills.

"If you can make a difference in education, spend the money early," Gov. Mark Sanford said during a late-morning press conference at Annie Burnside Elementary School.

The money, about $28 million in the first payment, will go to schools that already receive substantial amounts of federal aid based on the poverty level of their students under a program known as Title I. South Carolina has about 435 Title I elementary schools.

Initially, the state will pick 36 elementary schools from applicants in 51 districts that will compete for about $250,000 apiece for their plans to improve reading.

The money will help purchase instructional material, and pay salaries for a roving "literacy coach" and training for teachers.

A state Education Department spokesman estimated 20,000 elementary school teachers will be affected by training paid for with the grant money.

South Carolina will get the remainder of the money promised if:

• Schools demonstrate they're using the money effectively

• Congress continues to fund "Reading First," a program created under the federal school reform law known as No Child Left Behind."

Suzette Lee, a reading specialist at the state Education Department, said the agency hopes that future grant money can be spread beyond initial recipients.

The state agency will be allowed to use about 20 percent of the money for statewide training in reading, especially for teachers who work with special education students.

State education Superintendent Inez Tenenbaum led an effort in 1999 to establish a statewide reading program. The federal money S.C. qualified for Tuesday will be used to extend that program to more schools.

"Reading First will really help South Carolina expand what we've already been doing the past five years," Tenenbaum said.

Tenenbaum said the $1.9 million the state's elementary-level reading program currently receives from the Legislature will be steered to remedial reading programs at middle schools.

Meanwhile, federal grants awarded through the Reading First program go to states that pledge "to ensure that schools use only scientifically based instruction and teaching methods."

Sandra Lindsay, a deputy state superintendent of education, described the five teaching strategies that reading teachers will be encouraged to follow:

• Phonemics: emphasizes teaching sounds and symbols at the kindergarten level

• Phonics: emphasizes the "sounding out" of words and rules to follow for early elementary students

• Vocabulary development: building a storehouse of words to use in reading and speaking

• Fluency: nurturing students to read a sentence with ease in a normal voice

• Comprehension: emphasizes instruction that guides children in understanding and explaining what they have read.

Joining Sanford and Tenenbaum Tuesday were three members of the state's congressional delegation, Reps. Jim DeMint and Joe Wilson, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, all Republicans.

Reach Robinson at (803) 771-8482 or brobinson@thestate.com.