(1) improve student learning;

(2) increase learning opportunities for students;

(3) encourage the use of a variety of productive teaching methods;

(4) establish new forms of accountability for schools;

(5) create new professional opportunities for teachers, including the opportunity to be responsible for the learning program at the school site;

(6) assist South Carolina in reaching academic excellence; and

(7) create new, innovative, and more flexible ways of educating children within the public school system, with the goal of closing achievement gaps between low performing student groups and high performing student groups.