By Lori Ehde and Jolene FarleyGov. Tim Pawlenty is warning high school students to show up for class or risk being denied a driver’s license."Students who do not regularly attend school do not learn and do not succeed academically," Pawlenty announced Sept. 7. "Linking the privilege to drive with school attendance is a common-sense way to get kids to school."The Governor has asked Education Commissioner Alice Seagren and Public Safety Commissioner Michael Campion to proceed with a rulemaking process that will allow the state to deny licenses to students who are truant.This would be specifically defined as having unexcused absences for seven or more days of the school year.Law enforcement officials and educators support the law, but some don’t anticipate having to enforce it, according to Hills-Beaver Creek Superintendent Dave Deragisch. "We don’t have a problem with attendance here and I don’t see any of our students ever being affected by the law," Deragisch said. Deragisch does support the law for schools in the state that have attendance problems. It gives districts some leverage to coax students back to class."When you think about a driver’s license, the most important possession that a 16 or 17-year-old has is that license in his back pocket," Deragisch said.The governor’s initiative, which becomes effective in June, would deny driving privileges only to new applicants.The new rule would affect 15- and 16-year-olds who are applying for their permits for the first time. Those applicants will need to have evidence of this year’s school attendance to get their licenses.Under this proposal, the state would have no authority to revoke valid licenses for subsequent truancies, but the Governor has indicated plans to change that as well.Pawlenty said he’ll seek legislative approval of a bill in 2005 that would revoke driving privileges from 17- and 18-year-olds who are chronically truant.