Pawlenty and drivers licenses

Governor Pawlenty is pushing a plan to require students who want to get drivers licenses to have a good attendance record, or else no driving for them. A similar plan was considered by the legislature earlier this year but failed; now the governor wants to use the rulemaking process to implement this plan.

I have no real problems with this. In fact, I think that there are compelling reasons to push the age at which people can drive a year or two. But it is kinda strange to see a Republican governor put forward a plan where the government takes over parenting, isn't it? After all, isn't it the parents' job to keep their kids in school?