A National pro-charter school group today released a study that suggests interest in charter schools is on the rise. The Center for Education Reform says there are enough students on charter school waiting lists to hope 5,000 new charter schools nationwide. But Maine is still one of 11 states that does not allow charter schools, and some in Maine say that could cost the state in a big way.

Charter schools are funded like public schools, but they're organized by a group of teachers, parents, or a community. They operate free of the rules and regulations that govern traditional public schools, but their "charters" serve as performance contracts, which they must abide by.

Maine does not have any charter schools because legislation to create them has never passed. But the Maine Association for Charter Schools is determined to keep bringing bills forward.

"People here, especially educators, particularly from the alternative education movement, have been trying to get public school options going for 15 years," says Judith Jones, chair of the board of the Maine Association for Charter Schools. "We basically support and promote public school options and public school choice of all kinds for Maine families."

While it can be difficult to measure demand statewide for charter schools since they don't yet exist in Maine, Jones says she receives inquiries from parents from around the state each month.

That parallels what the National Center for Education Reform says it found. A pro-charter school organization, the center says a recent survey found most charter schools have a waiting list of more than 200 students.

Jones says charter schools would provide Mainers with affordable alternatives to their local public school, especially if a child is bored or otherwise unable to succeed in a traditional classroom.

"Right now in Maine if you don't have a public school option that meets your kids' needs, you can go to the expense and time and trouble of homeschooling, you can see if you have the money for that child to attend a private school -- pay tuition or get a scholarship -- or you can move to another public school district, which also involves cost to you as a family," she says.

The federal government has presented a so-called "Race to the Top" educational funding program, which will release a total of $4 billion in grants. Maine is one of several states considering new education laws to make itself more competitive for that funding.

"The Race to the Top application, which has probably $25 million to $75 million available to the state of Maine, should we be successful in our application, has a very strong focus on innovation, and it has a section on charter schools and innovative public schools," says David Connerty-Marin, spokesman for the Maine Department of Education.

Connerty-Marin says Gov. John Baldacci will soon introduce a bill that provides a way for school boards to open or transform existing schools into so-called innovative schools. But these will not be charter schools.

"The commissioner and the governor have said we just last year failed to pass charter school legislation, we're not going to try that route again, we're going to focus on what we think that we can accomplish, and something that will be very valuable for education and for our students in Maine, which is the innovative public schools," he says. "And these are schools that look a bit like charter schools but they're wholly under the control of a school board, they're still subject to the same employee contracts as the rest of the district and they would all be certified teachers."

Connerty-Marin says the "innovative schools" would be able to set their own schedules, control their budget and hire and replace teachers.

Stephen Bowen of the conservative Maine Heritage Policy Center says that's too little, too late. "Obviously the governor and the commissioner intend to move ahead with some kind of reform, but it can't be something small," he says. "We really need to be really ambitious with whatever we move forward, because this is a competition."

In the past, teachers unions and the Maine Principal's Association have opposed legislation to launch charter schools, saying there isn't enough scientific evidence of their effectiveness. Other opponents say charter schools divert funds from existing public schools.

Bowen and the Maine Heritage Policy Center have stood in favor of charter schools and larger public education reform.

"It's going to be very tough for us to argue to the United States government that we are a good place to invest reform dollars," Bowen says. "Just in the last two weeks alone, California, Michigan and Massachusetts have implemented very aggressive reform legislation that creates more charter schools, increases accountability for schools, teachers and school administrators. But the fact is states are moving very quickly and a lot of those states are ahead of where we are on a lot of the things that the Obama administration is looking for."

The details of the governor's Innovative School legislation are still being hammered out. It's not yet know how many schools would be needed around the state or whether they would require new facilities. The state Department of Education says they would be open enrollment.