Testing Vendor Claims Tennessee Still Owes $25M For Work On TNReady, Despite Failure To Launch

The Tennessee Department of Education has been ordered to respond soon to a lawsuit filed by Measurement Incorporated that seeks $25.7 million in payment from the state.

Measurement Inc. was the company in charge of rolling out an online standardized testing platform for Tennessee students in February 2016 that failed in the first morning of exams. It was an education department's nightmare: As more and more students tried to log on to take the new TNReady test, the platform started stalling.

Eventually, the department called it off and instead ordered paper tests from Measurement Inc. to be administered in April. Some of those didn't arrive on time, so state officials finally fired the company.

More from 2016: Tennessee Dumps Testing Vendor, Makes This Year's TNReady Exams Optional

But the lawsuit filed by Measurement Inc. in June shifts much of the blame back onto the education department. The company says thousands of students were able to complete their tests online before problems started, and that it would have been possible to solve the issue for the rest of them if the state had not decided to "unreasonably, unilaterally and unjustifiably" cancel the testing, according to the lawsuit.

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