Unit 4 Global warming reading课时作业

阅读理解

　　Most American students go to traditional public schools. There are about 88，000 public schools all over the US. Some students attend about 3，000 independent public schools called charter schools.

　　Charter schools are self－governing. Private companies operate some charter schools. They are similar in some ways to traditional public schools. They receive tax money just as other public schools do. Charter schools must prove to local or state governments that their students are learning. These governments provide the schools with the agreement called a charter that permits them to operate.

　　Charter schools are different because they do not have to obey most laws governing traditional public schools. Local, state, or federal governments cannot tell them what to teach. Each school can choose its own goals and decide the ways it wants to reach them. Class size is usually smaller than in traditional public schools.

The Bush Administration strongly supports charter schools as a way to re－organize public schools that are failing to educate students. But some education agencies and unions oppose charter schools. One teachers' union has just made public the results of the first national study comparing the progress of students in traditional schools and charter schools.