In the United States, primary and secondary public school education, undergoes continual monitoring and discussion by government leaders, educators, and parents. According to a survey, by the National Assessment of Educational Progress, in 1994, 39 percent of fourth graders, 37 percent of eighth graders and 36 percent of twelfth graders, scored below average, on basic skills assessment tests, in the United States ( Finn, Ravitch 22-24 ). News coverage also tends to continuously broadcast that the United States lags behind global peers in pre-college education. For this reason, parents, governments and educators are constantly searching for new ways to improve, and overcome learning obstacles, in education. One of the new concepts emerging is the charter school.

In the United States, the charter school was modeled after Margaret Thatcher's idea of a public school operating independently, while being funded by grants. A similar concept currently exists, for all public education, in New Zealand ( Finn et al. 48-52 ). In 1992, after the first charter law was passed, Minnesota opened City Academy, based on this concept. The charter focused on recruiting and teaching high school d

Toch, Thomas. "The New Education Bazaar". U.S. News and World Report

"Schools at the Top of the Hill." Economist 22 Feb. 1997: 27-28. ABI/Inform. Online.

MacDonald, Mary. "Charter Schools Falling Through the Cracks". The Florida Times-Union Online. Internet. 15 Mar. 1998. Available http.//jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/031698/met_2a1Chart.html.

Ravitch, Diane. "Education With Accountablility". Forbes 10 Mar. 1997: 82-83.ABI-Inform. Online.

Finn, Chester E. Jr., et al. "The New School". National Review 15 Sep. 1997: 48-52.SIRS CD-ROM. Art. 76.

Some common words found in the essay are:
City Academy, Olson Art, County Average, Saunders Florida, Neighborhood House, City Hill, Finn Ravitch, Payne Academy, Reece We've, Educational Progress, charter schools, charter school, florida times-union, public school, cd-rom art, newsbank cd-rom, buechler 60-63, florida charter, local school, school board, charter school law, times-union online internet, local school board, public school system, online internet 15,
Approximate Word count = 1465
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)