In order to receive ongoing federal funding and waivers from No Child Left Behind (NCLB) mandates, states had to agree to adopt Common Core standards. As part of that deal, states also had to agree to join one of two federally subsidized testing consortia, the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) or the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC).
According to Education Week those consortia are, in turn, handing out hundreds of millions of dollars to industry insiders to develop the necessary online tests:
Most of the biggest contracts being awarded by the two main consortia creating online common-core assessments…are flowing to some of the education industry's most familiar and entrenched players.
Testing companies and organizations such as Pearson, McGraw-Hill Education CTB, and the Educational Testing Service are among the top winners of prime assessment contracts awarded through those state consortia with federal money—awards worth more than $300 million combined so far. …
The contractors are handling tasks such as developing test questions; designing technology platforms, and providing support [to the consortia]. …
So much for competition, innovation, and standards that are focused on students. Education is big business, and the federal government’s favorites are sure getting their share of the taxpayer-funded monopoly pie.