There was a time in our country when a high school graduate had everything he or she needed for a lifetime of success. Young men and women, armed with only their high school diplomas, could step into well-paying jobs that supported themselves and their families.

In today’s high-tech economy, post-secondary education is increasingly a must. A bachelor’s degree is as necessary today as a high school diploma was just a few decades ago.

So it is very disturbing that more than 1.23 million young men and women in our country are dropping out of high school each year. This is troubling because on average, those individuals will earn $260,000 less over their lifetimes than high school graduates, and nearly $1 million less than college graduates. This will have a huge impact on our economy as a whole.

Dropouts from the class of 2008 will cost our country $319 billion in lost wages, taxes and productivity. America would save more than $17 billion in healthcare costs over the course of the lifetime of each class of dropouts had they earned their diplomas. And American households would have over $74 billion more in accumulated wealth if all the heads of households had graduated from high school.

Fifty years ago, the United States was No. 1 in the world in high school graduation rates. Today, we rank 18th out of 23 other developed nations. A little less than one-third of the students who will enter ninth grade this fall will not graduate from high school in four years, if at all.

In some states, the problem is even more alarming. In my home state of New Mexico, only 54 percent of students graduate in four years.

Various factor, including a family’s income level, affect a student’s chances for earning a diploma.

Nationally only 55 percent of African American students, 53 percent of Hispanic students and 50 percent of Native Americans will graduate — compared to 78 percent of white students. Students from lower-income families are seven times more likely to drop out of school than their more affluent peers.

Congress passed the No Child Left Behind Act to ensure that all students — regardless of income, race or disability — have access to a quality education. This historic act requires states to set high academic standards. And while we haven’t set aside the federal funding promised in No Child Left Behind, and there have been some problems with the administration’s implementation, the law is beginning to show some benefits. We have seen gains in reading and math on both state tests as well as on the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Further, we have seen a narrowing of the achievement gap between low-income students and their more affluent peers.

But No Child Left Behind has so far not helped reduce the dropout rate. When Congress rewrites the law in the coming months, I believe we must focus on fixing the nation’s dropout problem. In today’s complex, global economy, we cannot afford to allow this crisis to continue unabated. We must marshal our resources to understand and surmount the crisis of failing students and failing schools.

The federal government has recognized that investments in early childhood and the elementary grades are critical to a student’s academic growth and success. Still, attention and resources must be sustained throughout the middle and high school years if the national goal of leaving no child behind is to be met. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Only about 8 percent of all Title I dollars go to high schools. Our continued economic security hinges upon preparing our young people to enter college and the 21st-century workforce.

Fortunately, today, we have a far greater understanding of the dropout problem. We know which schools have the highest dropout rates; we know the risk factors that predict with a high degree of certainty which students will drop out; and we know which sets of interventions work to turn around these low-performing schools and help students.

The way to improve dropout rates is to shine a spotlight on the high schools that are failing America’s young people, and help turn them around. The United States has approximately 2,000 “dropout factories” — high schools where 60 percent or fewer of the students graduate.

Even though these 2,000 schools represent less than 15 percent of the high schools in our country, they produce roughly half of the nation’s dropouts and two-thirds of African American and Hispanic dropouts.

With an eye toward improving graduation rates in these schools, Sens. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Richard Burr (R-N.C.) have joined me in introducing the Graduation Promises Act (GPA).

GPA would authorize a $2.4 billion High School Improvement and Dropout Reduction Fund to support states in their efforts to turn around high schools with low graduation rates. Funding would be used by states to create the framework for identifying low-performing high schools and directing resources and technical assistance to them. It would also authorize $60 million in competitive grants for the development and implementation of successful models geared toward students who are struggling in conventional education settings.

We cannot afford to let the estimated 2,000 failing high schools in our country continue to push students off the path to prosperity. We must ensure the continued prosperity of our country by promising each high school student a chance to gain the skills and knowledge necessary to pursue his or her dreams and succeed. The Graduation Promise Act will help make that possible.

We have already lost too many bright young minds to the dropout problem. It is time for Congress to step in and do something to help struggling schools improve their graduation rates and therefore improve the futures of our young people and our country.

Bingaman is a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.