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GREENVILLE, S.C. (WACH, AP) -- South Carolina's governor has signed a charter school bill that the state's education superintendent called his top legislative priority,

Superintendent Mick Zais says the bill signed Monday by Gov. Nikki Haley at Greenville Technical Charter High School will increase education opportunities across the state.

“It is a great day in South Carolina,” said Gov. Haley. “We will no longer settle for what we think education has to be, we will lead in this country on what education should be – and that means options, innovation and creativity.”

The new law allows boys-only and girls-only charter schools and requires traditional schools to open their doors for students who want to do extracurricular activities not offered by their charter school.

Zais says it goes a long way to providing personalized and customized education for every student.

“A one-size-fits-all model of education simply doesn’t work for many students.  Public charter schools are laboratories of innovation where the interests of students come first,” said Zais.

South Carolina has 17,000 students in 47 charter schools. They are public schools overseen by a board of parents, teachers and community members, rather than a district board. They're subject to fewer regulations than traditional schools.

(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)