The panel will expand from nine to 12 members and will have the power to approve new charter schools and revoke the charters of existing schools that perform badly.

The panel will also be able to appoint and oversee the executive director of the charter school administrative office.

Lingle, in a statement after she signed the law, said it would limit the policy role over charters by the state Board of Education. The statewide school board has had the authority to create and oversee charter schools.

The school board will appoint members to the panel and function as an appeals board for those that disagree with the panel's decisions. But state lawmakers found that the school board did not have the time or resources to administer charter schools while also fulfilling its mission to oversee all public schools.

Some charter-school advocates have been frustrated with the school board's oversight of the experimental schools, which are part of the public-school system but have more independence.

"This new law is a step in the right direction in giving charter schools more autonomy to pursue innovative teaching methods and curricula, and will provide even more students an alternative learning environment to the traditional classroom setting," Lingle said.

The new law specifies that the charter school executive director be appointed for up to a four-year contract and be evaluated by the panel annually. The director must also be given the opportunity to respond to the evaluations and can only be removed from the job for cause.

The provisions were in response to the school board's controversial firing last September of Jim Shon, a former state representative and education policy analyst.

The state has 27 charter schools — 23 startups and four that converted into charters.