Establishes incentives for parents to be involved with their child's education. Creates a restriction on students applying for a driver's license.

A BILL FOR AN ACT

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that parental involvement is universally regarded as one of the most important factors in fostering student achievement and yet it is one of the most difficult elements to enhance. The legislature further finds that the State should develop incentives to ensure that parents and students are more involved and understand the importance of education. There will always be room to enhance the State's educational system and developing new and innovative ideas to achieve this should be explored.

The purpose of this Act is to create a system of incentives to increase parental involvement in education by withholding public assistance benefits from parents who fail to attend mandatory parent conferences at public schools and establishing a grade point average restriction for students applying for a driver's license.

SECTION 2. Section 286-108, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:

"(b) The examiner of drivers shall require proof from every applicant under the age of eighteen that the applicant of the high school, if any, that the applicant currently attends, and if at a public school, that the applicant is currently receiving a grade point average of at least 2.0 and has completed a driver education program and a behind-the-wheel driver training course certified by the director of transportation. The examiner of drivers shall not examine any applicant for a driver's license who is sixteen through seventeen years of age unless the applicant holds a valid instruction permit under section 286-110, for a period of no fewer than ninety days. If the applicant's instruction permit has expired and a new instruction permit was issued within thirty days of its expiration, the examiner of drivers may examine the applicant without requiring an additional ninety-day period."

SECTION 3. Section 346-53, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:

"(a) This subsection does not apply to general assistance to households without minor dependents. The standard of need for families of given sizes shall equal the poverty level established by the federal government in 1993, prorated over a twelve-month period.

The assistance allowance provided shall be based on a percentage of the standard of need. For exempt households and households in which all caretaker relatives are minors, living independently with minor dependents and attending school, the assistance allowance shall be set at sixty-two and one-half per cent of the standard of need. For all other households, the assistance allowance shall be set no higher than sixty-two and one-half per cent of the standard of need and set no lower than fifty per cent of the standard of need. The standard of need shall be determined by dividing the 1993 federal poverty level by twelve and rounding down the quotient. The remaining quotient shall be multiplied by the per cent as set by the director by rules pursuant to chapter 91 and the final product shall be rounded down to determine the assistance allowance; provided that:

SECTION 4. The department of education shall implement procedures to notify the department of human services of a parent's refusal to participate in mandatory parent-teacher conferences. Consequently, once the parent participates in the parent-teacher conference, the department of education shall immediately notify the department of human services of the parent's compliance, and the department shall without further delay send out the next regularly scheduled assistance payment. The department of education and department of human services shall implement rules pursuant to chapter 91, Hawaii Revised Statutes, necessary to implement this Act.

SECTION 5. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 6. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.