All states want to prime the pump of economic development by improving educational systems, but Idaho and Washington have lagged behind when it comes to bolstering math and science requirements.

The standard requirement for high school students in both states is two math courses. Leaders in both states are moving forward with recommendations that seniors have three courses to graduate. Some districts have already made the shift. It’s no accident that business leaders are among those advocating these changes.

As Microsoft official Bob Lokken said at an Idaho legislative forum last week: “It’s hard to recruit people to move to Idaho when 38 other states, including Alabama and Mississippi, have more math and science requirements.”

He noted that the state doesn’t have enough qualified workers for high technology jobs, and that attracting highly educated people from other states is dicey because they don’t want their children attending second-rate schools.

Business leaders in Washington make that same point. The Washington Roundtable, a statewide organization of business leaders, urges the state to require four years of math in high school and overhaul science curriculum from kindergarten through eighth grade. Though Washington state is among the top 10 in the nation for the number of scientists and computer specialists, it ranks 36th in producing students with bachelor’s degrees. That means workers have to be imported.

Political leaders in both states are catching on.

The Idaho Senate Education Committee looks ready to adopt the state Board of Education’s recommendation for two more credits each in science and math for high school students, starting in 2013. The need is more urgent than that and the state could find that those standards are relatively weak by the time they kick in, but it’s a start.

Washington state’s Board of Education also advocate beefed-up math requirements even as the state considers delaying the requirement for students to pass the math portion of the Washington Assessment of Student Learning, known as the WASL. The governor’s budget calls for adding 750 math and science teachers statewide.

Turning out better qualified workers will take a long-term commitment. Washington state began its journey in 1993, with teacher and school accountability measures. Along the way it has had to make U-turns and course corrections, but the destination has remained the same.

It would be easy for either state to give up because the process is complex and expensive. Plus, the results won’t be obvious for years to come. But neither state can afford to back off from the promise of an improved educational system. We all have a stake in it.