Goedde: Attorneys for the state were confident, voiding of IEN contract a surprise

Outgoing Senate Education Chairman John Goedde, R-Coeur d’Alene, said he’s concerned about the future of state-provided broadband for Idaho schools, after a judge voided the state’s contract for the Idaho Education Network, ruling it was issued illegally. “Certainly the attorneys for the state all along have expressed confidence in what had been done,” Goedde said. “So it kind of takes me aback a little bit, to find out that the summary judgment was issued.”

“There have been issues with the IEN all along,” Goedde said. But he said the concept behind it is important. “Expanding broadband to schools is, from my perspective, one of the great equalizers,” he said. “It certainly brings the whole world to students, and to teachers. So it’s become an integral part of the everyday classroom, and I just can’t envision that changing. We owe that to Idaho’s students.”

The state Department of Administration and the state’s outside attorneys had been so confident of the state’s chances of success in the case that the state department didn’t even bother to inform lawmakers in 2013 that it had extended the contract through 2019, promising another $10 million to Education Networks of America, even though the deal wasn’t yet up for renewal. State Administration Director Teresa Luna told the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee in February that the department anticipated some state savings from the early renewal. In addition to broadband connections, the network provides video tele-conferencing equipment at Idaho high schools.