HONOLULU -- An educational reform group has given Hawaii a "D" grade for charter school laws.

The nonprofit Center for Education Reform gave 29 states a grade of "C" or lower for their charter school laws.

The chairman of Hawaii's Board of Education said Hawaii has room for improvement.

"We have come a long way. The main charter school law was passed in 2000 an there have been a lot of growing pains and i think if you were to ask charter school advocates they would say the place where we are today is a lot better than where we were two years ago," BOE Chairman Garrett Toguchi said.

Forty states and the District of Columbia have enacted laws creating charter schools.

Only Washington, D.C., Minnesota and California have laws that provide the optimal conditions for the charter schools to succeed, according to the Center for Education Reform.