EDITORIAL BANG FOR THE BUCK STATE SPENDING ON CHARTER SCHOOLS IS A SOUND PUBLIC INVESTMENT.

THE State Board of Education has awarded $8.3 million to charter schools in high-need L.A. neighborhoods. That might seem like small potatoes compared with the Los Angeles Unified School District's recently approved $4 billion school-construction bond, but dollar for dollar, it offers a much higher return.

For that money, the taxpayers get 14 schools, all of which are expected to open in time for the 2006-07 academic year.

And charters - fully public schools that are exempt from much of the government bureaucracy - are the most promising trend in education reform. The grants also include funding for two model charters that will share their program ideas with the entire district.

Compared with the billions lavished on traditional public education, $8.3 million isn't much. But in the hands of charters - and the needy families they serve - it's hard to imagine a better public investment.