Gov. Butch Otter announced today that former Sen. John Goedde, now an Otter aide, will head a 20-member working group to chart a path forward for the Idaho Education Network, and the new panel will meet today at 3 in the Senate Majority Caucus Room.

Otter said in a statement, “There’s a broad consensus within this group, the Legislature and the public at large that the IEN is a tool on which the future of our students, our schools, our communities and our economy depend. These folks represent the technical, financial and political skills we need as well as a real commitment to technology’s role in advancing the quality of every public school in Idaho. They all embrace the Idaho Constitution’s commitment to providing public schools as a fundamentally proper role of government.”

The group includes 11 state lawmakers, several state officials and some school district and education officials; the full list is online here. Otter's announcement followed a lengthy budget hearing for the IEN this morning, at which state lawmakers had lots of critical questions about the troubled project.