Charter schools' welcome choices

Some Lowcountry parents think there is a better way than now exists in Charleston County public schools to educate low-scoring students.

And gifted students.

And profoundly disabled students.

So they have committed their time and energy to establishing alternative schools to do these jobs better.

It is too soon to say if three charter schools being proposed will get approval for the 2010-2011 school year. But the dedication of parents on behalf of their children is encouraging.

And in each instance, their efforts should be instructive to public school administrators. They point to likely shortcomings in the traditional public school system. Charter schools also are public schools but are given administrative and instructional independence to achieve their stated goals.

The three charter schools that have made headway in the approval process are:

Pattison's Academy for Comprehensive Education that would serve 30 profoundly disabled Charleston County students between kindergarten and the eighth grade.

Apple Charter School that would serve 280 at-risk students in kindergarten through eighth grade and would target Charleston students scoring no higher than basic on the state's standardized test. It would feature single-gender classes.

The Palmetto Scholars Academy would provide a rigorous curriculum suitable for gifted students in the sixth- through eighth-grades in Charleston, Berkeley and Dorchester counties.

Children of all abilities deserve an education that will challenge them. At Pattison's that might be learning to sit up. At Palmetto, it might mean complex calculus problems. At Apple, it might mean teaching a fourth grader reading skills he should have known in the first grade.

School advocates are to be commended for the perseverence they have demonstrated and will continue to need. For example, if the Palmetto Scholars Academy is approved, state funds will not be adequate, so school leaders will search for grants and will lobby for improved funding.

The challenges are daunting. But if Pattison's and Palmetto and Apple are successful, the benefits could spread far beyond those three schools' present and future student bodies.

Educators in other schools could learn some new tricks. Competition should cause underperforming schools to ramp up their programs.

And children whose needs are met in the charter schools won't have to wait for long-promised changes in traditional public schools to occur.