State Sen. Dan Schmidt, D-Moscow, a member of the legislative panel that oversees the troubled Idaho Education Network has sent out a guest editorial to Idaho newspapers entitled, “What We Should (Have) Be(en) Doing About the IEN.” In it, he calls for the state to support school districts in applying for federal e-rate funds on their own for broadband service, which the state sorts out the contract mess with the IEN. “The timeline is ticking for this process and the delay has been damaging,” Schmidt writes. “There is still time. … Such an effort could mean millions in savings that could be used to support our strapped schools. We should have the folks in place and the word out to support this. Fast, clear action now can still help our schools, our taxpayers.”

You can read his full article here.