"NEWARK Shortly after landing at Malcolm X Shabazz High School as a Teach for America recruit, Dominique D. Lee grew disgusted with a system that produced ninth graders who could not name the seven continents or the governor of their state. He started wondering: What if I were in charge?
"Three years later, Mr. Lee, at just 25, is getting a chance to find out. Today, Mr. Lee and five other teachers all veterans of Teach for America, a corps of college graduates who undergo five weeks of training and make a two-year commitment to teaching are running a public school here with 650 children from kindergarten through eighth grade."