Lawmakers Scrap IENetwork

The much-vaunted Idaho Education Network is officially defunct, state lawmakers declared Tuesday, as they approved new emergency funding for school districts to find their own vendors and buy broadband services for the rest of the school year. The network, which provided video conferencing and broadband internet services linking every Idaho high school, was an initiative much lauded by Gov. Butch Otter and former state schools Superintendent Tom Luna, who said it would equalize education across the state by bringing distance courses to even small, rural schools. But the $60 million contract the state issued in 2009 to two politically-connected firms to run the service was mired in controversy from the start, culminating in a judge’s final declaration last week that it was illegal and void/ Betsy Russell , Eye on Boise. More here .

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