Assembly Bill 2764,by Assemblywoman Patricia Bates, R-Laguna Niguel, would allow state colleges and universities to start and run charter schools. The bill includes community colleges and the Cal State and the University of California systems. Currently, only local school boards can authorize charter schools.

A version of the bill last year, also by Ms. Bates, expanded authorizers even more widely, to nonprofit groups and private colleges and universities; the narrower new bill should be more palatable to some members of the Legislature.

Universities would be a logical way to expand the charter concept. After all, a 2003 study found that, of Cal State freshmen in 2002, 59 percent needed remedial reading and/or remedial math. If the university itself ran some charter schools, it could make sure the kids were adequately prepared and didn't need remedial courses.

Charter schools run mostly independently from the public school system, allowing more innovation and avoiding various restrictions. They also cost about 75 percent as much as regular public schools. So the more charters there are, the less pressure there is on the strained state budget.

In January, Legislative Analyst Elizabeth Hill released a study concluding "that [charter schools] are meeting original legislative intent - expanding families' choices, encouraging parental involvement, increasing teacher satisfaction and raising academic achievement, particularly for certain groups of disadvantaged students." The study also called for allowing "multiple authorizers" including "accredited colleges and universities" and even "nonprofit organizations," as is the case in some other states.

"Basically it follows the Legislative Analyst's direction on [increasing] authorization," Ms. Bates told us of the bill. She said AB 2764 is "adding to the public education system, not taking away," by giving parents more choices to work within the existing system. "Academically, charters are doing their job and meeting their goals."

The new bill also is attracting bipartisan support. State Sen. Dede Alpert, D-San Diego, is principal co-author. She is chair of the joint committee that in 2003 developed the California Master Plan for Education.

We urge Orange County's legislators, Republican and Democrat, to support AB 2764 to allow the state's institutions of higher learning to educate some of their own future students. This is one good way to increase competition in the K-12 education marketplace, and better serve students.