maintain the system hampered the district''s effort to offer other resources. It''s not that CDLN was terrible, but the new system allowed the district to spread its money further. People can now put books on hold via the Web site and can search the library''s database. It also offers Electric Library that lets students research topics through sources such as newspapers, magazines and books. The students really like it, and the new features," said Bismarck High library media specialist Charlotte Hill. very user friendly." One of the new options that has made life easier for students is called the book bag, Hill said. Students can a topic search and then drop each book title that they want into their book bag on the computer screen. Theym,can then make a printout of the titles in a bibliography format and collect their books. They weren''t able to make a printout before," Hill said. They had to

The sheer number of homeschoolers represent a distinct threat to the hegemony of the government school monopoly. Qualitatively, the academic success of homeschoolers, measured by standardized test scores and recruitment by colleges [1], debunk the myth that parents need to hire credentialed experts to force children to learn. Homeschooling also refutes the “more money equals better education” mantra of teacher unions. The average homeschooling family spends approximately 10% of the per pupil costs associated scienceteachers with government schools [2] in achieving these academic results. Multiplied by the number of homeschoolers, scienceteachers even these modest amounts add up to a sizeable market attracting numerous educational entrepreneurs. Besides challenging the legitimacy of government schools, homeschoolers also pose a more direct economic threat. Funding scienceteachers for government schools is based on attendance,

against a colonial government that tried to impose modest taxes on it from afar. In education, this sentiment came to be expressed as a staunch defense of local control of our schools. During most of the 19th century, the local school was the primary unit of educational governance for most Americans. An individual community built a school, hired a teacher, raised money through local taxes and fees, and implemented education on its own terms. Outside help was neither offered nor welcomed. This was the ultimate in local control. Even in large cities, control of education tended to rest at the ward level. Consider some numbers that suggest the radical degree of decentralization that has long characterized American education. It was not until 1937 that we started recording information about the number of individual school systems in the country.

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