Does local control improve performance of students in schools?

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (Public Law 107-110), commonly known as NCLB, is a United States federal law that reauthorizes a number of federal programs that aim to improve the performance of U.S.'s primary and secondary schools by increasing the standards of accountability for states, school districts and schools, as well as providing parents more flexibility in choosing which schools their children will attend. Additionally, it promotes an increased focus on reading and re-authorizes the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA). NCLB is the latest federal legislation (another was Goals 2000) which enact the theories of standards-based education reform, formerly known as outcome-based education which is based on the belief that high expectations and setting of goals will result in success for all students.