AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Fulfilling a campaign promise, Gov. Paul LePage on Wednesday signed into law a bill making Maine the 41st state to allow charter schools, which create innovative educational settings for students who don’t fit into the public schools.

LePage high-fived a group of students seated behind his desk before sitting down to sign the bill at a State House ceremony. The bill would allow no more than 10 public charter schools in the first decade. It would also limit the number of students who can attend them in the first three years to protect smaller non-charter public schools.

Charter schools are “another element in our education system that we can use to provide our children with the best possible education here in the state of Maine. A charter school may not be the end-all for every child, but it’s another element in the mix of options available to failing parents and kids throughout our state,” said the governor, who was joined by several of the bill’s supporters and Education Commissioner Stephen Bowen.

The bill’s sponsor, Republican Sen. Garrett Mason of Lisbon Falls, said the bill moves Maine “from a one-size-fits-all approach to an individualized education for all.”

Charter school proposals have been rejected in past years by Democratic-controlled legislatures and remained a theme during the gubernatorial campaign last fall, in which LePage, a Republican, pledged to bring them to reality in Maine.

Under the new law, charter schools can be organized by a founding board of directors, whose application can be submitted to a new state Charter School Commission or the local school administrative unit. The voluntary public schools cannot teach religious practices or discriminate against students or teachers.