Uncharted territory; Better standards might have prevented charter school crash.(A SECTION)(Editorial)

Chances are that someone will check your creditworthiness if you try to buy a car or get a credit card. But no credit check is required before you run a school into the ground.

State laws have lacked the standards necessary for school boards to adequately consider the creditworthiness of applicants who seek to open charter schools. If such basic requirements had been in place, maybe The Alpha Center, which held the academic dreams of hundreds of Charlotte County parents and students, would not have foundered.

On Tuesday, School Board members did the right thing by revoking Alpha's operating charter, effectively closing the school.

The main problem…