Millennium Charter Academy has applied for permission to expand its offerings, from the current kindergarten through eighth-grade service to eventually offering classes through high school graduation.

We believe this is a wise request, and we are hopeful the State Board of Education will grant approval to the move.

Unfortunately, when people see a charter academy begin, or expand, they often first think of what that does to available money for public education. That is a concern, because that money is finite. However, a larger issue is how does a charter school fit into the education of a community’s children.

Educating youth should be a multi-prong approach, with each segment acknowledging they have weaknesses and strengths that make them suitable for certain children and their families, not suitable for others. For some children and their families, education through a traditional public school program works just fine. For others, a home-schooling environment might be best. Still others will find their way best in a private school setting, or perhaps with a charter school.

What matters is that a community’s youths are being educated and prepared for adulthood, in a manner that does not undermine their family and personal beliefs, while preparing them for a successful future. There is room for a number of entities involved in education, and those — public, private, charter, and home school — should be recognized for what they have to offer and embraced as part of an overall effort to educate the community’s youth.

And that means Millennium Charter Academy, too. We hope the school gets widespread community support in its efforts to expand, and ultimately that it receives approval to do so.