The Impact of No Child Left Behind On Charter School Legislation and Practices - Policy Implications

摘要

The charter school movement is considered one of the fastest growing education reform efforts in the United States today, serving over 1 million children nationwide. The demand to improve the quality of education in the United States has been paramount over the last twenty years.In December 2001, Congress approved a reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and renamed it the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), P.L. 107-ll0, H.R. 1. Although ESEA was enacted in 1964 by President Lyndon Johnson to supplement state and local efforts to provide all children with high-quality education, NCLB has a broader and more ambitious scope than previous school reforms in that it focuses on student test results. It is believed that this legislation is a conduit for charter schools becoming the likely alternative to public education. This study will advance the discussion of the key factors of four States charter school movements and how charter school legislation varies from state to state. Additionally, the study will examine how NCLB was conceived and determine if there now exists a relationship between NCLB and the status of charter schools in the nation.Public school systems in the United States have operated as educational monopolies, creating barriers to other forms of elementary and secondary education, such as magnet schools. In crafting the NCLB, some policymakers viewed passage of legislation supporting NCLB as an opportunity to make dramatic changes in the delivery of education in this country.