ANOTHER CHARTER SCHOOL GETS A CHANCE

The Southeast Missouri State University Board of Regents made the right decision recently in granting a five-year charter to the Garden School in St. Louis, only the second charter school the regents have approved.

In doing so, the regents are supporting a different concept in public schools: allowing groups who feel they can do a better job of education without the weight of state regulations to give it a try.

Not that those groups have no accountability. There are regular performance reviews and standardized tests. And charters can be revoked if schools don't meet standards.

The Garden School will be located near Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis and serve elementary and middle school students from four inner-city St. Louis neighborhoods. Similar schools in states like Florida and Arizona, among the first to allow charters, have had varied levels of success.

However, if a group has a sound plan for improving the lives and futures of children -- and the regents obviously believe the Garden School's directors have one -- they deserve a chance to make it work.