South Carolina has long lingered near the bottom in many national rankings of public education. But none offers a more worrying indicator of the state's future than our low standing in high school graduation rates-- now last among all 50 states, according to a new report by the Manhattan Institute.

In a high-tech 21st century that demands a highly educated workforce, the study shows that nearly half (47 percent) of our state's students dropped out of high school instead of graduating on schedule in 2002. When such large numbers of young South Carolinians fail to get an adequate education, in an important sense, we all fail. Such a cycle of failure will impose an increasingly heavy toll if significant portions of subsequent S.C. generations continue to enter adulthood with scant prospects for good jobs.

The S.C. Department of Education shares the view that our graduation rates are too low, though by its count, that figure for the 2002 graduating class was 67 percent, not the 53 percent reported by the Manhattan Institute. Department spokesman Jim Foster told our reporter that in most state-against-state comparisons, the numbers game is stacked against South Carolina because this is one of only six states that requires 24 credits for high school graduation: "If we had North Dakota's standards, or Wyoming's or California's, a lot more of our kids would be graduating in four years."

However, 17 months ago, when a prior Manhattan Institute study also reported a significantly lower S.C. graduation rate than the department (57 percent to 64 percent), Mr. Foster told The Post and Courier: "Our graduation rate is not good. It's been abysmal for generations."

That "abysmal" graduation rate has been especially pronounced in Charleston County, which has routinely recorded dropout rates even higher than the troubling statewide results reported by the Department of Education in recent years. Assorted business and public-interest groups, including the Community Benchmarking Collaborative, have correctly identified the dropout problem as a prime target in the mission to improve our education system. Obviously, education business as usual isn't an option if that mission is to succeed.

Rallies advocating conflicting courses toward better schools were held Tuesday in Columbia, with pros and cons expressed on Gov. Mark Sanford's "Put Parents In Charge" proposal. It's clear that the education debate in our state is intensifying.

But on one topic, there is no debate: If South Carolina continues to rank at, or merely near, the bottom in high school graduation rates, our state -- and far too many of our children -- will never reach our potential.