Dive Brief:

• Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, wrote a letter to Pearson voicing displeasure with a silencing clause in the contract between the publishing giant and New York state.  
• The $32-million contract, which hires Pearson to create the state's Common Core-aligned tests, bars teachers and principals from publicly disclosing the exam's contents.  
• Weingarten views this as a "gag order," meant to "cover up — rather than address — problems with its standardized tests."
• Weingarten's letter comes on the heels of a New York Times op-ed by New York City Principal Elizabeth Phillips. The editorial discusses Phillips' frustrations with the Pearson-designed test but inability to give specifics due to the silencing contract.  

Dive Insight:

In 2012, an odd and confusing question about a talking pineapple from the New York state tests made media rounds. It was an embarrassment for Pearson, which had just been contracted to make the state's exams more rigorous.  

While that may have been a public relations nightmare for Pearson, it at least provided context and transparency for the standardized tests that hold so much weight in the nation. By stopping educators from speaking about the tests, Pearson loses accountability.