The College Board sues SAT test-prep company

The College Board, the "not-for-profit membership association" behind the SAT and AP tests, has sued a Texas-based test prep company for illegally obtaining current copies of its test and using them to give clients an unfair advantage in preparing for the test.

The Wall Street Journalreports (subscription required) that Plano, Texas' Karen Dillard College Prep marketed its program as PVA which stood for "pirated version." The College Board declined to speculate on whether clients of the firm would have their test scores canceled but has taken such action in similar cases in the past. The lawsuit alleges copyright infringement.

The specifics of the case aside, there's another issue here that's worth commenting on. A look at the company's fee schedule (PDF file -- may take a minute to load) shows that test prep from 9th grade through 11th grade would set a child's parents back $2299. I wonder how many lower-income parents in failing school districts can afford programs like that.

Colleges need to take a serious look at how much weight they put on a test that seems to lend another leg up to already over-privileged youth.

And if you're a parent willing to spend that much money subjecting your child to unbelievably boring test prep, I think you need to reexamine your motives.