WASL Cost: $207 Million Dollars

From the Puget Sound Business Journal:

Published data from the state's (WASL) contracts show that the initial amount awarded to Riverside Publishing Co., covering the period of Sept. 24, 2001, to Oct. 10, 2005, was $61.6 million for test development, administration and scoring.

A second contract for the WASL was awarded on April 15, 2004, to Oct. 31, 2008, to Pearson Educational Measurement for $70.8 million for the same services. That makes a total of $132.4 million, just for the tests.

Not one dime of that figure goes for instructional services. There are no indirect charges in that figure. The initial contract to Riverside Publishing for trial runs was approximately $40 million. Thus, the true cost is probably about $172.4 million.

Ring up $34.7 million from the 2006 Supplemental Budget for WASL remediation. Then add $277,010 for the June 2001 WASL training trip to Mesa, Ariz., for 190 teachers. The total exceeds $207 million (not exactly petty cash).

The article goes on to describe the record money that Pearson Education, the test developer, has made.

A tip of the hat to the Tri-Cities Herald for the link.