I received the FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) back on the Pearson Equella Contract with the NC Community Colleges System.

The contract takes advantage of some Race To The Top Funds.

The signed MOU includes language for “K-14” storage of “educational content and resources” through the creation of the “Learning Object Repository” or LOR.  From what the MOU says, it looks like LOR is an upgrade or enhancement of the existing Pearson Equella “NCLOR“.

NCLOR has its own site “Explore The LOR“.
Mission Statement: “The mission of the NCLOR is to provide a centralized location for the acquisition, collection, sharing, and management of quality learning resources for all teachers in North Carolina.”

A few of the document highlights:

• The signed intent to contract document cites Pearson receiving $1,309,805, but another ‘signed approval’ document says the amount wasn’t to exceed $1,155,808.
• According to the DPI Project Management MOU, the Project manager is to be paid over $85 an hour.

Just for reference, according to page 36 of the State Board of Education’s large contract list, the total cost of these contracts came out to be $35,284,419.39.
Broken out:

• $18,832,611.39 State
• $16,451,808.00 Federal (Race To The Top?)