State Department of Administration Director Teresa Luna told Idaho EdNews today that the state is “exploring all opportunities” to keep broadband in the state’s high schools, as the state contests a court decision earlier this week voiding the $60 million contract for the Idaho Education Network. EdNews reporter Kevin Richert has a report here on what’s next for the IEN.

Meanwhile, I spoke with House Speaker Scott Bedke, R-Oakley, about it today.  “At the end of the day, this is an important thing,” he said. “We need to get a new contract as quickly as possible and keep the service up and going during the school year.” He said, “You have school districts that are dependent on this service, they’re in the middle of a term, and … the less disruption the better here, on our way to a new contract that addresses the issues that have been raised.”

Two lawmakers who serve on the IEN Program Resources Advisory Council, or IPRAC, that oversees the network, told Richert they have concerns over the state’s motion this week for the judge to reconsider his ruling. “I’m a little frustrated, quite frankly,” said Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint. “It just seems like this is just another chapter in legal maneuvering, as opposed to solving the problem.” Sen. Dan Schmidt, D-Moscow, doesn’t think the judge will be persuaded. “I think the odds of that are pretty low.” The panel has a special meeting scheduled for tomorrow morning, but the only item on its agenda is a closed-door executive session for a legal briefing on the case.

House Minority Leader John Rusche, D-Lewiston, told Eye on Boise, “I think that we sometimes have trouble identifying when the horse we’ve been beating is dead. … My guess is if we want to get the e-rate money flowing back, we have to follow the judge’s rules and get that contract re-bid in some manner. And I think that’s the important thing, is to get the support for the telecommunications and broadband services the schools need.”

Federal e-rate money, which comes from a tax on telephones, was supposed to pay for three-quarters of the cost of the IEN, but the feds cut off the payments because of concerns about the contract issuance, forcing lawmakers to approve an $11.4 million bailout to keep the service from going dark. “Going to the mat to defend a process that’s not clean doesn’t make sense,” Rusche said. “To have that money sitting on the sidelines because we don’t want to do it in a clean manner, I don’t think that makes sense.”