Long-running dispute over NC schools' K-3 reading contract goes before state IT agency
A long-running dispute over which company should have been awarded a contract to test North Carolina public schools' youngest readers went before the state Department of Information Technology for a hearing Monday. The hearing is expected to last through Thursday.
Istation, which was awarded the contract to test K-3 students' reading skills, filed an emergency motion Monday morning to disqualify the state IT agency from handling the hearing, saying the agency is biased against the Department of Public Instruction and State Superintendent Mark Johnson. Istation asked that an administrative law judge oversee the hearing instead.
DIT General Counsel Jonathan Shaw, who is presiding over the hearing, denied Istation's motion, and the hearing continued.
"I will be unbiased in my decisions and issue a fair and impartial decision," Shaw said.
The state superintendent's decision to award the state testing contract to Istation last summer drew a challenge from Amplify, a rival testing vendor who previously held that contract since 2013. Amplify has demanded that the contract be suspended or terminated.
Committees of education leaders that reviewed the companies competing for the contract ranked Amplify the highest, followed by Istation, records from the state education agency show. Despite the majority of committee members recommending Amplify, the state superintendent chose to award the contract to Istation, setting off a controversy.
Johnson has claimed the review process was tainted by former employees at his agency who had inappropriate discussions about the contract review process.
Attorneys for Istation, Amplify and the state education agency made motions Monday, asking Shaw to exclude certain items from the hearing, but Shaw said he will decide what evidence to allow as the hearing proceeds.
One issue is whether text messages between two former DPI employees should be included. The state superintendent said the messages show the inappropriate discussions.
Johnson has repeatedly said he believes Istation is the best product for North Carolina students, teachers and parents and blamed the controversy on "the establishment political system" that prefers more of the same instead of change.
Johnson's decision to choose Istation angered some educators who said the new program would result in increased screen time and reduced human interaction for students. More than 80 superintendents also shared concerns about the decision and asked for a one-year delay before using the new reading test, which was denied.
