Consultants recommend Wake Schools keep using controversial math curriculum

WAKE COUNTY, N.C. (WTVD) -- A major development will affect the state's largest school district Monday as consultants recommended that the Wake County Public School System keep using the controversial MVP program.

The recommendation comes after 139 classroom observations and 3,000 parent survey responses about the controversial math curriculum that's been at the center of several parent and student protests.

It also sparked a lawsuit between a parent and the company that created the curriculum.

"Kids were actually engaged in productive struggle," said Hayden Lyons with MGT Consulting Group. "(The program) encourages critical thinking and strengthening of problem solving in students."

Some parents argue that their kids are suffering.

"It needs to be gone," said parent Carrie Bley.

"He (my son) didn't learn much," said parent Blain Dillard, who has been a strong opponent.

Dillard was sued by MVP after heavily criticizing the program and he fired back with a counter lawsuit.

The cases were dropped and Dillard's hoping the same will come of MVP.

"The teacher wasn't teaching, plain and simple," he said.

The program encourages students to think outside of the box and work together to solve real-world problems.

The consulting group did make some recommendations to improve the program and one is to provide supplementary resources to help kids.

"If you have to add a curriculum to a curriculum, that's not something worth saving," said Bley.

The suggestion was also made that some teachers need additional training to better implement MVP.

The Wake County School Board has stuck by the program despite the outcry from families.