Columbia, SC -- Barbara Hairfield has been re-appointed to serve another four-year term on the Education Oversight Committee (EOC) as the education representative designated by the President Pro Tempore of the South Carolina Senate, Senator Hugh Leatherman. Currently, she is a K-12 Curriculum Specialist for the Charleston County School District and serves as a board member of several professional organizations on the local, state, and national levels.

Hairfield has served as an appointed member of the EOC since August 2007. Through a leadership role, Barbara Hairfield served as the EOC’s Vice-Chair from August 2010 through February 2014 and currently chairs the EOC’s Public Awareness Subcommittee, which keeps the public apprised of South Carolina’s progress and challenges in public education. During her tenure at the EOC, Hairfield has also chaired special subcommittees targeted to improve the reading proficiency of South Carolina’s students, including chairing the Early Readiness Assessment Task Force established to improve and gauge early readiness rates among children before they enter school.

“The committee is pleased that Senator Leatherman has re-appointed Ms. Hairfield to the Education Oversight Committee,” stated EOC Chairman Neil Robinson. “As an experienced educator, she continues to provide the committee with a high level of expertise. Above all else, she provides a valued voice for the students, teachers, and administrators of South Carolina.”

Hairfield earned her B.A. with a double major in English and History from Winthrop University, her teaching degree and a Masters in Secondary Administration, as well as, a Masters Plus 30 in English from The Citadel. She holds National Board certification in Early Adolescent Social Studies/History and has spent over twenty-five years teaching and working in Charleston County schools.

Prior to her current position, Hairfield worked with the S.C. Department of Education as a Teacher Specialist-on-Site providing support and expertise in some of the state’s most at-risk schools and for the Charleston County School District as a Teacher Specialist for Social Studies and English Language Arts and as a member of the CCSD Teacher Coach cadre. Hairfield was a charter member of the state’s first Literacy Committee and Task Force led by the SC State Department of Education. During her career, Hairfield has been recognized as Teacher of the Year at Birney Middle School, Charleston County School District Teacher of the Year, and as the South Carolina Social Studies Teacher of the Year. In 2012, she was awarded the National Social Studies Supervisor Award from the National Council for the Social Studies.

In her work with professional organizations, Hairfield has served as a member of the executive board for the South Carolina Council for the Social Studies and as a long-time member on the board of directors for the National Council for the Social Studies. She is a member of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Task Force on Teacher Recruitment and Retention. As part of her goal to improve instruction and learning in South Carolina schools, Hairfield works closely with higher education teacher preparation programs as an accreditation reviewer and also serves as the chair of the Professional Education Board at The Citadel, as well as, a member and past chair of The Citadel’s Professional Development Board. The SC Bar Association’s Law-Related Education Division appointed Ms. Hairfield as the Coordinator of the Center for Civic Education for the 6th Congressional District. Currently, she is serving as a member of the Ft. Sumter National Historic Trust Board of Directors.

Ms. Hairfield is active in numerous professional organizations, including being a member of Kappa Delta Pi Honor Society, the South Carolina Social Studies Supervisors Association, the South Carolina Professors of Middle Level Education, the South Carolina Middle School Association, the South Carolina Geographic Alliance, the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, and currently serves on the Executive Board of the National Social Studies Supervisors Association.

The SC Education Oversight Committee is an independent, non-partisan group made up of 18 educators, business persons, and elected leaders. Created in 1998, the committee is dedicated to reporting facts, measuring change, and promoting progress within South Carolina’s education system.