RELATING TO SCHOOL CHOICE SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM.

HB273

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

273

THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025

STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

relating
to school choice scholarship program
.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1.
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The legislature finds that public schools in
Hawaii are experiencing overcrowding.
�

Campbell High School, with more than three thousand students, is a
notable example of overcrowding.
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Alternative education options such as private schools and charter
schools help alleviate the pressure on the public school system.
�
Further, parents should have the right to
choose which educational setting their children should learn in.
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The overwhelming financial burden of private
and charter education is a primary hurdle preventing parents from exercising
their autonomy over their children's education.

The State of Hawaii
spends between $15,000 and $17,000 per child per year for public
education.
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The legislature finds that offering
a scholarship of less than the State's annual expenditure per child is a
cost-effective method of alleviating overburdened public schools and promoting
parental choice.
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The purpose of this Act is to
offer families an educational choice through the provision of funds for
nonpublic school tuition and fees.
�
This
program will assist students in their endeavors to become well-educated and
productive members of society.
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The
provisions of this Act are in the public interest, for the public benefit, and
serve a secular public purpose.

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SECTION 2.
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Chapter 302A, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
amended by adding a new part to be appropriately designated and to read as
follows:

"
Part
��

.School choice scholarship

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�302A-A
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Definitions.
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For the purposes of this section:

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"Board" means the board of
education.

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"Department" means the
department of education.

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"Elementary
school" means an
institutional day or residential school, including a public elementary charter
school, or private school, of secular or non�secular nature, that provides
elementary education, including kindergarten, as determined under State law.

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"Eligible entity" or "entity" means any of
the following:

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(1)
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An educational
entity of the State.

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(2)
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A nonprofit
organization.

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(3)
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A consortium of
nonprofit organizations.

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"Eligible student" means a student who:

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(1)
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Is a resident of
the State; and

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(2)
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Comes from a
household whose income does not exceed an amount that is four times the federal
poverty line.

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"Grantee" means an eligible entity that receives a
grant.

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"Parent" means biological or adoptive mother or
father, or a legal guardian or other person standing in loco parentis, such as
a grandparent or stepparent with whom the child lives, or a person who is
legally responsible for the child�s welfare.

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"Poverty line" means the poverty line as defined by
the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, and revised annually in accordance
with 42 U.S.C.
�
9902
(2)
.

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"Secondary school" means an institutional day or
residential school, including a public secondary charter school or private
school, of secular or non-secular nature, as determined under State law,
except that the term does not include any education beyond grade twelve.

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�302A-B
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General authority.
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(a)
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Funds shall be appropriated to the department to carry out this part.
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From those funds, the board shall award grants
on a competitive basis to eligible entities with approved
applications under section
302A-C to carry out activities to provide eligible students with expanded
school choice opportunities.
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The board shall award a single grant per eligible student, but may
award multiple grants per family if there are multiple eligible students.

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(b)
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The board may make
grants under this section for a period of not more than five years.

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(c)
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The board and the
governor shall enter into a memorandum of understanding regarding the design
of, selection of eligible entities to receive grants under, and implementation
of, a program assisted under this part.

�302A-C
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Priorities.
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In awarding grants
under this part, the board shall give priority to applications from eligible
entities that will most effectively:

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(1)
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Give priority to
eligible students who, in the school year preceding the school year for which
the eligible student is seeking a scholarship, attended an elementary school or
secondary school identified for improvement, corrective action, or
restructuring under section 1116 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act
of 1965 (20 U.S.C. � 6316);

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(2)
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Target resources
to students and families that lack the financial resources to take advantage of
available educational options; and

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(3)
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Provide students
and families with the widest range of educational options.

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�302A-D
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Use of funds.
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(a)
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Subject to
subsections (b) and (c), a
grantee shall use the grant funds to provide eligible students with
scholarships to pay the tuition, fees, and transportation expenses, if any, to
enable them to attend the nonpublic elementary school or secondary school of
their choice. Each grantee shall ensure that the amount of any tuition or fees
charged by a school participating in the grantee's program under this part to
an eligible student participating in the program does not exceed the amount of
tuition or fees that the school customarily charges to students who do not
participate in the program.

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(b)
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A grantee shall make scholarship payments under this part to the parent
of the eligible student participating in the program, in a manner which ensures
that such payments will be used for the payment of tuition, fees, and
transportation expenses (if any), in accordance with this part.

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(c)
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The amount of assistance shall be set at $10,000 per student per
academic year.

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�302A-E
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Nondiscrimination.
�
(a)

�
An
entity or a school
participating in any program under this part shall not discriminate against
program participants or applicants on the basis of race, color, national
origin, religion, or sex.

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(b)
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Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the prohibition of sex
discrimination in subsection (a) shall not apply to a participating school that
is operated by, supervised by, controlled by, or connected to a religious
organization to the extent that the application of subsection (a) is
inconsistent with the religious tenets of the school.

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(c)
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Notwithstanding subsection (a) or any other provision of law, a parent
may choose, and a school may offer, a single sex school, class, or activity.

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(d)
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Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a school participating in
any program under this part that is operated by, supervised by, controlled by,
or connected to, a religious organization may exercise its discretion in
matters of employment consistent with title VII of the Civil Rights Act of
1964, 42 U.S.C. 2000e-1 et seq., including the exemptions in such title.

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(e)
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Notwithstanding any other provision of law, funds made available under
this part to eligible students that are received by a participating school, as
a result of their parents' choice, shall not, consistent with the first
amendment of the United States Constitution, necessitate any change in the
participating school's teaching mission, require any participating school to
remove religious art, icons, scriptures, or other symbols, or preclude any
participating school from retaining religious terms in its name, selecting its
board members on a religious basis, or including religious references in its
mission statements and other chartering or governing documents.

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(f)
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A scholarship, or any other form of support provided to parents of
eligible students, under this part shall be considered assistance to the
student and shall not be considered assistance to the school that enrolls the
eligible student. The amount of any scholarship, or other form of support
provided to parents of an eligible student, under this part shall not be
treated as income of the parents for purposes of State tax laws or for
determining eligibility for any other State program.

�302A-F
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Evaluations.
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(a) The board, directly
or by grant, contract, or cooperative agreement, shall:

����
(1)
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Conduct an
evaluation using the strongest possible research design for determining the
effectiveness of the programs funded under this part that addresses the issues
described in subsection (b); and

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(2)
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Disseminate
information on the impact of the programs in increasing the student academic
achievement of participating students, as well as other appropriate measures of
student success, and on the impact of the programs on students and schools in
the State.

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(b)
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The issues set forth in subsection (a) shall include the following:

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(1)
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A comparison of
the academic achievement of students who participate in the programs funded
under this part with the academic achievement of students of similar
backgrounds who do not participate in such programs, including a consideration
of school factors that may contribute to any differences in their academic
achievement;

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(2)
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The success of the
programs in expanding choice options for parents;

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(3)
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The reasons
parents choose for their children to participate in the programs;

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(4)
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A comparison of
the retention rates, dropout rates, and, if appropriate, graduation and college
admission rates of students who participate in the programs funded under this
part with the retention rates, dropout rates, and, if appropriate, graduation
and college admission rates of students of similar backgrounds who do not
participate in such programs;

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(5)
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The impact of the
program on public elementary schools and secondary schools in the State;

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(6)
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A comparison of
the safety of the schools attended by students who participate in the programs
and the schools attended by students who do not participate in the programs;
and

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(7)
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Such other issues
as the board considers appropriate for inclusion in the evaluation.

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(c)
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The board shall submit the following to the legislature:

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(1)
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Annual interim
reports not later than December 1 of each year for which a grant is made under
this part on the progress and preliminary results of the evaluation of the
programs funded under this part; and

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(2)
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A final report not
later than one year after the final year for which a grant is made under this
part on the results of the evaluation of the programs funded under this part.

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(d)
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All reports and underlying data gathered pursuant to this section shall
be made available to the public upon request, in a timely manner following
submission of the applicable report under subsection (c), except that
personally identifiable information shall not be disclosed or made available to
the public.

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(e)
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The amount expended by the board to carry out this section for any
fiscal year may not exceed three percent of the total amount appropriated to
carry out this part for the year.

�302A-G
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Reporting requirements.
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(a)
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Each grantee receiving funds
under this part during a year shall submit a report to the board not later than
July 30 of the following year regarding the activities carried out with the
funds during the preceding year.

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(b)
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In addition to the reports required under subsection (a), each grantee
shall, not later than September 1 of the year during which the second academic
year of the grantee's program is completed and each of the next two years
thereafter, submit a report to the board regarding the data collected in the
previous two academic years concerning:

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(1)
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The academic
achievement of students participating in the program;

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(2)
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The graduation and
college admission rates of students who participate in the program, where
appropriate; and

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(3)
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Parental satisfaction with the program.

No report
under this subsection may contain any personally identifiable information.

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(c)
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Each grantee shall
ensure that each school participating in the grantee's program under this part
during a year report at least once during the year to the parents of each of
the school's students who are participating in the program on the following
matters:

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(1)
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The student's
academic achievement, as measured by a comparison with the aggregate academic
achievement of other participating students at the student's school in the same
grade or level, as appropriate, and the aggregate academic achievement of the
student's peers at the student's school in the same grade or level, as
appropriate; and

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(2)
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The safety of the
school, including the incidence of school violence, student suspensions, and
student expulsions.

No report under this subsection may contain any
personally identifiable information, except as to the student who is the
subject of the report to that student's parent.

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(d)
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The board shall submit to the legislature an annual report on the
findings of the reports submitted under this section.

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�302A-H
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Other requirements for participating
schools.
�
(a)
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Each
school
participating in a program funded under this part shall comply with all
requests for data and information regarding evaluations conducted under section
�302A-G.

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(b)
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A participating school may require eligible students to abide by any
rules of conduct and other requirements applicable to all other students at the
school.

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(c)
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Each participating school shall:

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(1)
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Ensure that
participating eligible students receive comparable academic assessments in the
same grade levels as those provided to State public school students, and
ensure, to the maximum extent possible, that the assessment results are capable
of being compared to determine the relative achievement levels between
participating eligible students and State public school students in the same
grades; and

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(2)
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Ensure academic
assessment results containing any personally identifiable information shall be
disclosed only to the parents of the student taking the assessment."

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SECTION 3.
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There is appropriated out of the general
revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $
����������
or so much thereof as may be
necessary for fiscal year 2025-2026 and the same sum or so much thereof as may
be necessary for fiscal year 2026-2027 for the implementation of the school
choice scholarship program.

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The sums

appropriated shall be expended by the department of education for
the purposes of this Act.

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SECTION 4.
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This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:

School
Choice; Grants; Scholarship; Nonpublic education

Description:

Establishes
a School Choice Scholarship program which allows parents to exercise more
financial freedom to send their children to nonpublic schools with the
assistance of a $10,000 grant for eligible students.

The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.