Jackson Free Press

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A state board has rejected a contract that would have bought tests for Mississippi students with intellectual disabilities.

The Personal Service Contract Review Board voted Tuesday to reject the $1 million-a-year pact with the University of Kansas. It said it did that because the contract didn't require all legal disputes be resolved according to Mississippi state law and all suits be filed in Mississippi courts.

Such clauses are standard in state government contracts, but the state Department of Education sought an exemption because it was signing a pact with a government agency in another state that would normally insist on similar protections. Instead, both agencies agreed to leave out their protections.

Education officials say they got clearance from Attorney General Jim Hood's office saying it was legal to skip such clauses. But the board rejected that plan, with Personnel Board Executive Director Deanne Mosley describing it as a request to "violate state procurement laws and place Mississippi taxpayers at risk."

Mosley, in a statement released Wednesday, said the contract review board "has never granted any state entity the special treatment sought by the Department of Education."

She said the risk of being sued in Kansas and having Kansas law apply was too great to ignore.

About 3,500 Mississippi students have intellectual disabilities, said state Superintendent Carey Wright.

It's the second time in three months that the contract board has blocked a key testing contract. In September, education officials withdrew an $8.3 million contract with test publisher Pearson PLC after board staff said they would recommend rejection because the state didn't seek competitive proposals.

The state Board of Education then declared an emergency, adopting the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Career tests, developed by a multistate group including Mississippi to test what students are learning under the Common Core State Standards. The state will now seek proposals from all test providers, opening the possibility that schools will give three separate standardized tests in three years. Many superintendents are pushing the state to adopt exams written by the ACT testing organization.

Wright said Thursday that the department is trying to rework the contract for the test for students with intellectual disabilities. Testing is set to begin in January. She said that if Mississippi did not acquire a testing system for children with autism, brain injuries and other cognitive disabilities, it would be violating federal law. Because of Common Core, Mississippi needs to adopt new tests for students with disabilities as well. Unlike the PARCC tests, education officials say they sought competitive proposals.

Supporters had touted Kansas' Dynamic Learning Maps as a system not only of testing but instruction. It includes not only one exam, but small tests administered as children progress to guide teachers and record progress.

"Teachers are going to be massively upset because their students will miss out on a learning and assessment opportunity they've never had before," Gretchen Cagle, state director of special education, said in a statement. "The DLM gives teachers guidance about how to teach, it assesses student learning, and it gives teachers feedback about how to help students continue to make progress."

Wright also said that the Kansas system would only cost about $100 per students, compared with previous costs of $375 per student.