Pearson Forgot About Montgomery County, Maryland

In a May 7, 2012, Letter to the Editor in The New York Times, the Chief Executive of Pearson North America said:

Public officials define rigorous and accountable processes to buy services for public schools. States and districts publish open competitions with strict bidding and evaluation criteria. It’s highly competitive and transparent.

Except in Montgomery County, Maryland where a deal to sell MCPS curriculum to Pearson; to have Pearson create all of the grade level assessments for the curriculum; and, to have Pearson prepare the teacher training was concocted completely behind closed doors without any public process or notice whatsoever. 


Board of Education member Laura Berthiaume on the Pearson deal with MCPS:

"The board never took a vote to negotiate the contract with Pearson," Berthiaume said. "It was ‘Hey, we got this awesome deal, and we're going to do this.'"