Imagine if a contractor hired to improve Interstate 69 near Fort Wayne or Indianapolis used inadequate equipment and tore up the highway, disrupting traffic for weeks. Imagine if emergency vehicles were blocked and motorists delayed or rerouted miles off course. Imagine if the contractor, due to collect nearly $100 million for the job, left the project so badly botched that the interstate couldn’t be used for a full year.
There would be public outrage, of course. Business owners would demand immediate action. Elected officials would call for the company to be held accountable and the state made whole for its losses. Those responsible for awarding the contract would be called to task, and the contractor would be barred from doing further state business.
That scenario is not unlike what happened this month when a computer server failure disrupted ISTEP+ testing in Indiana schools.
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