ALBUQUERQUE — Gov. Bill Richardson has a message for New Mexico's teenagers: If you want to be eligible for a driver's license, you better be attending class and getting decent grades.

If the education initiatives announced Thursday by Richardson were already in place, nearly 20 percent of New Mexico's public-school students would have to wait an extra six months to get their driver's license.

Starting next year, eighth-graders would have to be near proficient or better on state standardized tests to be eligible for a driver's license when they come of age, while ninth-graders would have to have an attendance rate of at least 90 percent.

The requirements are among several education initiatives announced by the governor during a visit Thursday to Sandia High School.

"These new initiatives are a creative way for us to continue improving graduation rates, classroom instruction, and student and community involvement," Richardson said.

If students fail to reach either benchmark, they would have to wait six months before getting their license. They would be in for a 12-month delay if they fail to reach both benchmarks or if they drop out of school before age 16.

Last year, 18.8 percent of all students didn't meet the requirements for math, and about 10 percent didn't meet the requirements for reading. Those numbers increase for minority students. About one-quarter of black and Native American students didn't meet the requirements in math, for example. And about 20 percent of boys also didn't meet the requirements in math.

New Mexico Public Education Secretary Veronica Garcia said the prospect of a driver's license provides the perfect motivation to keep teenagers on the right track when it comes to school.

When asked whether there is a concern that minority and poor students would be unfairly targeted by the initiative, Garcia said, "Unless we can get them to achieve, they have bigger problems than not getting their driver's license."

"We have to find something that turns kids on," Garcia said, "and we can show them the benefits that not only are you going to be able to drive at the date your supposed to, but you're also going to be better prepared for high school."

Garcia acknowledged the initiative is not tied to students' grades, only to test scores, but said she hopes tying consequences to the scores will mean students will take them seriously.

New Mexico officials said they were not aware of any states that have tied the privilege of a driver's license to a student's academic performance.

According to the Education Commission of the States, 27 states tie getting a driver's license to some sort of school-related criteria. Most of them tie the privilege to attendance rates, while five states tie it to academic progress.

The Public Education Department still needs to work out many details, including options for special education and home-school students as well as how private schools would participate.

The department also has to develop a system to communicate student performance and attendance to the state Motor Vehicle Division, which issues driver's licenses.

Garcia said she believes the requirements can be enacted administratively. If not, the department would have to seek legislation.

"We have some things to work out, but they're not insurmountable," she said, adding state officials hope to have everything in place by next spring.

MVD Director Ken Ortiz said New Mexico teens already have to take driver education and DWI-prevention courses, and the requirements proposed by the governor would only add to the benefits. "I think this just leads to more responsible students and drivers," Ortiz said.

Among the other incentive announced Thursday by Richardson and Garcia:

• High-school students could earn up to one credit by participating in environmental service projects such as community recycling, water conservation and xeriscaping.

• International math and science education experts would be brought to New Mexico to serve as advisers to the Public Education Department for one year. Garcia said this would be more cost effective than sending New Mexico educators to foreign countries for training.

• Seminars would be offered to parents on strategies for helping their children succeed in school. The seminars also would be posted on the department's Web site so parents and educators around the state could use them.

• A 12-member board of New Mexico educators would be created to inform education policy development and best practices.

New Mexican reporter John Sena contributed to this report.