Cary father fights lawsuit from creators of controversial math program

CARY, N.C. (WTVD) -- New details are emerging about the lawsuit against a Wake County father who spoke out against a controversial math program at his son's high school.

In a new court filing, Blaine Dillard tells the court that the lawsuit is an effort to silence his right to free speech. The Cary father's attorney filed the counterclaim this week in response to the lawsuit filed by Utah-based Mathematics Vision Project or MVP, claiming Dillard made false and defamatory statements about the program.

"It is alarming that a parent would be sued for defamation for expressing opinions and making truthful statements about his son's high school math curriculum," said Dillard's attorney Jeffrey Hunt. "The lawsuit appears to be an attempt to silence Mr. Dillard and other critics of MVP, and to chill their First Amendment rights to speak about MVP's services"

Dillard and a large contingent of Wake County parents have been extremely vocal about their problems with MVP -- insisting the curriculum doesn't work and their kids' grades are suffering because of it.

Last April, hundreds of students at Cary's Green Hope High School defiantly walked out of class, filling the football stadium to protest the math learning system.

WCPSS implemented the new curriculum as a better way to get students to understand and explain their answers rather than just replicating a memorized formula.

MVP did not respond to ABC 11's request for comment about Dillard's counterclaim.

Dillard's attorney wants the judge to dismiss the case.

"We believe the lawsuit has no legal merit," Hunt said. "We intend to vigorously defend the right of Mr. Dillard, as well as other parents, to have a voice in the education of their children.

Friends and supporters of Dillard have organized an online fundraiser to raise money for his legal defense fund.