Otter names members to his higher ed, workforce development task forces

Gov. Butch Otter has announced the members of his new 36-member task force on higher education, and his 17-member Workforce Development Task Force. Both will hold organizational meetings on Feb. 10, Otter said. The panels are patterned after Otter’s Task Force for Improving Education, which submitted 20 recommendations for improving K-12 public schools that resulted in a five-year improvement plan, of which Idaho’s in its second year.

The Higher Education Task Force will be co-chaired by Linda Clark, a state Board of Education member and retired school superintendent; and Bob Lokken of White Cloud Analytics. Its members include all members of the state ed board; state schools Superintendent Sherri Ybarra; public college or university presidents and more. You can see the full list here , for both task forces.

The workforce development group will be co-chaired by Brian Whitlock of the Idaho Hospital Association and state Board of Education member David Hill, and will include an array of business representatives, along with lawmakers, educators and state officials.