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Charter Schools Of The United States

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Charter schools in the United States were created as a response to the perceived lack of educational achievement among American students. A community of critics consisting of educators, parents, politicians and entrepreneurs came together under the unified belief that current education policy was too restrictive and prohibited educational innovation. As a result, the education reform movement was born. According to the National Conference of State Legislators, “Charter schools are publicly funded, privately managed and semi-autonomous schools of choice. They do not charge tuition. They must hold to the same academic accountability measures as traditional schools. They receive public funding similarly to traditional schools. However, they have more freedom over their budgets, staffing, curricula and other operations.” Despite the charter school model created by education reformers, the verdict is still out on their effectiveness. Recent studies demonstrate that overall performance has failed to accomplish their intended results. Individual states determine the laws each charter organization shall follow, which might account for the differences in performance across states. Although slight differences exist in the way charter schools operate among states, their effectiveness in improving student academic performance has proven to be less than what education reformers lauded as the answer to the ills of the American educational system. State and federal laws are partly

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