EDITORIAL CHARTER ABUSE FUTURE OF EDUCATION RESTS ON SCHOOLS' TARNISHED CREDIBILITY.

ALTHOUGH a promising vehicle for education reform, charter schools are, like much else in this world, only as good as the people who run them.

When honest and committed people are at the helm, charters and the communities they serve can flourish. But when the greedy and unscrupulous take over, kids can suffer.

That's what's alleged in the case of One2One Learning, a charter operator that ran schools with seemingly little oversight in Northern California. A lawsuit claims that a small school district took the operator's money but didn't regulate its schools. Meanwhile the charter failed to deliver adequate education to its students.

This is the kind of scandal that gives charters a bad name. It makes governments less likely to support them, and parents less likely to send their kids there. And that's a shame, because hundreds of fine charters are already doing excellent work in California.

In the interest of charters and public education, these charges must be resolved immediately.

Secretary of Education Jack O'Connell is right to launch an investigation of One2One Learning, and the California Charter School Association deserves credit for supporting him, rather than reflexively hiding from what could be bad news.

Should the state find abuse, not only must the guilty be held accountable, but California laws governing charters must be reformed so as to minimize the chance of such scandals happening again.

Charter schools are too valuable, too important for California's future, for us to let their credibility be compromised.