South Carolina is one of 19 finalists in the second round of competition for $3.4 billion in federal Race to the Top grants to be awarded this fall.

National observers had predicted South Carolina’s selection because of the state’s strong showing in the first round of grants announced in April. South Carolina finished sixth in Round 1 voting, in which Delaware and Tennessee were the only winners.

Race to the Top is a federal education reform grant competition funded through the economic stimulus package approved by Congress last year. South Carolina has applied for about $175 million in the second round.

“It’s gratifying, but not surprising,” State Superintendent of Education Jim Rex said of Tuesday’s announcement. “Our performance in Round 1 was a pretty strong hint that we would be a factor in Round 2. Today’s announcement validates, once again, that South Carolina is viewed as being on the cutting edge of making the changes that will make schools stronger.”

South Carolina has proposed to use some Race to the Top grant money to create a teacher pay-for-performance system. The state plan would evaluate teachers based on how much their students improve over the course of a school year.

The grant proposal would also provide funding for teacher training in reading and math in “Common Core” standards adopted by 25 states. The grant would also provide funding for a student data system, pilot programs for recruiting teachers to work in rural areas and assist struggling middle schools and high schools.

The 19 state finalists in the Race to the Top competition are Arizona, California, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and South Carolina.

Each state will send teams to Washington the week of Aug. 9 to make presentations to judges on the Race to the Top grants. Winners will be announced in late August or September.

Cherokee County is among 80 school districts statewide which signed a memo of agreement last December to participate in the state’s Race to the Top effort. School districts are required to commit in the education reform plan picked by South Carolina.

Interim Cherokee County school superintendent Kim Bagwell hopes the state will receive good news about the federal grant.

While the money can’t be used to offset state budget cuts, Bagwell said a Race to the Top grant would provide school districts with more resources for academic programs.

“It would allow us to expand some initiatives which are already in place and look at new programs to help improve student achievement in schools,” Bagwell said.