A press release from the Department of Public Instruction says it received 70 applications by the March 1st deadline for proposed charter schools to open in August 2014. That is the largest number of applicants since the first charter school opened in 1997. The review process on those applications now begins. Any application that is not complete will not advance. The complete applications will go before the Public Charter School Advisory Council for review, a process that takes several months. Those applicants that get final approval will join the 107 public charter schools currently operating and potentially 25 more in the planning phase that will go before the state Board of Education Thursday. Charters have a current enrollment of over 50,000 students. I’m George Olsen.