historyHager Sharp has defended a multimillion-dollar pact with the U.S. Dept. of Education's National Center for Education Statistics to provide a variety of communications support tasks for its flagship program, the Nation's Report Card.

The base contract, worth $3.5M, could stretch to 5 years and nearly $18M.  It comes after a January RFP by the federal agency drew strong PR agency interest in the capital.

HS will lead work including publications, media relations and other outreach and dissemination support for the report card, formally known as the National Assessment of Educational Progress.

The assessment, which draws wide interest from policymakers, educators and the public, looks at performance in subjects like math and reading in two-year cycles at three grade levels.

The new contract covers the 2013-17 cycle.