Harcourt created a disaster when it failed to deliver tests to schools by a February deadline. As many as 30 percent of Chicago schools didn’t get their tests on time, for instance.

Months after Harcourt Assessment Inc. bungled delivery of a standardized test for Illinois schoolchildren, the Illinois State Board of Education on Wednesday agreed to pay a different company $32.9 million to take over most test-related duties.

Pearson Educational Management is to begin working immediately on Illinois Standards Achievement Test preparations for next year.

But Texas-based Harcourt will be paid millions of dollars to keep its role of developing the ISAT, including its questions and design.

Not mentioned in this story is that Pearson Educational Management was the state’s previous test provider which lost out on a contract rebid after a gubernatorial pal was hired by Harcourt.

This is from a Sun-Times artile earlier this year.

In September 2004, Harcourt, based in San Antonio, Texas, sealed the lucrative contract after hiring John Wyma, a lobbyist with ties to Gov. Blagojevich. At the time, the state education board’s former contractor, Pearson Educational Measurement, had demanded the bid be reopened when significant changes to testing requirements were made.

And this September 2004 Tribune story has more.

A subcontractor with Pearson was represented by former Illinois Atty. Gen. Roland Burris, who lost to Blagojevich in the Democratic primary for governor but has retained a friendship with the governor, said Burris, who is now a lobbyist.

Dave Strickland, another former top staffer for Blagojevich while he was in Congress, represented a third bidder, CTB/McGraw-Hill, which also lost.

All of the firms added lobbyists in recent weeks, according to state lobbyist records.