IT IS heartening to note that after the approval of the Guahan Academy Charter School’s budget application, two other applicants have expressed interest in opening their own charter schools on the island.

Charter schools are special schools that operate relatively free from the many regulations that apply to traditional public schools.

The idea is that by breaking free from the public school system’s bureaucracy, teaching and education management innovations can more freely be adopted.

Since then-Gov. Felix Camacho signed the law which authorizes the formation of the island’s first charter school, the concept has been slow to come to fruition. The implementation may have been long delayed, but now the island’s first charter school – Guahan Academy Charter School – is finally preparing to open, possibly even as early as next month.

The charter school concept may be new on Guam, but it is already decades old in the States.

To be fair, long-term studies have shown the charter school concept to have mixed results, at best. A comprehensive study made by the National Assessment of Educational Progress on charter schools nationwide has concluded that while there have been some successful charter schools, there have also been failures.

But in some states in the mainland, charter schools have also been found to do better and there are innovations fostered by charter schools that more traditional schools have not accomplished.

No study has yet conclusively shown that charter schools are the way to go. But in Guam’s case, there is no harm in trying out the charter school concept given the challenges that the Guam Department of Education continues to face.

Charter schools may especially be what the island needs at this point in time. With a premium being put on skilled labor in various sectors of the economy, small and nimble charter schools could be put up to train workers in the construction, hospitality and office support industries.

Guam businesses should become more interested in the charter school concept because not only do they need skilled workers for their projects, education is also proving to be a good business enterprise in itself. In fact, many economists say that education as a business is one of the sunrise industries of the new decade.

The Guam Department of Education itself need not feel threatened. Instead, GDOE should see charter schools not as competition, but as a supplement to public education.

Charter schools may be what Guam needs to rescue the ailing public school system because charter schools can help ease the strain on GDOE. Eventually, we can incorporate the good qualities of the charter school concept inside the existing framework of the current public school system.

Providing a system of accountability for results, encouraging innovative teaching practices, and offering teachers and students more authority to make decisions ... these are the hallmarks of the charter school movement.

But these are also the qualities of many award-winning public non-charter schools in the States. This shows there is room on-island for both charter schools and GDOE.

With enough hard work and commitment, we can adopt these same qualities for all island schools, whether they are charter schools or not.

But we will only know whether charter schools can work if we start operating and supporting one.