From today’s editorial:

Among those embracing this nonsense is the New Jersey Education Association. The union hates the idea of using tests to expose bad teachers, and has charged in legislative testimony that the profit motive is at work. 

Asked about that in an interview, the union president, Wendell Steinhauer, charged that Pearson made the tests too difficult on purpose. 

“That’s by design,” he said. Because failure fortifies the company’s next sales pitch: “We just happen to have some remedial materials we can sell you,” he said, characterizing Pearson… 

Kelly Heyboer, a reporter with NJ Advance Media, investigated the criticism of Pearson and found that most of it was bunk. The company makes almost no political contributions in New Jersey, and its tests cost about $3 less per student than the test it is replacing…

The profit charge is a nutty criticism. Object to PARCC if you like. But let’s stick to the facts, and give the conspiracy theories a rest.