MVP Math Chooses to Sue NC Parent, Apparently Expects to Recover Reputation
When I read the term, MVP, my first thought is “most valuable player.”
Well, this MVP might want to be that most valuable player, but this MVP (which stands for Mathematics Vision Project, LLC, a Utah limited liability company “active as of 03/17/2016”, has apparently suffered enough at the hands of a single North Carolina parent enough to sue the parent, Blaine Dillard.
Dillard is displeased with MVP and has a blog, a website, and a Facebook group focused on criticizing MVP as the Wake County, NC, math program.
Apparently, Dillard is so powerful that he is affecting profits to such a degree that MVP apparently felt compelled to sue. From MVP’s July 25, 2019, suit against Dillard, “an individual”:
The publication and/or public speaking of [Dillard’s aforementioned] statements harmed MVP. Part of MVP’s business involves submitting proposals for education-related contracts with private schools, public schools, school districts, government entities, and other entities. Dillard’s statements harmed MVP’s reputation as well as perceptions of the efficacy of the products and services that MVP provides. Upon information and belief, MVP has been unable to enter into contracts, and/or has not been invited to make proposals for contracts, and/or has been forced to enter contracts on compromised terms, and/or has been denied extensions on contracts, and/or has been forced to accept contract extensions on compromised terms, and/or has been unable to attract employees and/or consultants, and/or has been forced to invest more resources than otherwise would have been necessary to consummate a contract, and/or has otherwise been harmed.
It would be quite the challenge for MVP to document an irrefutable, direct connection between “not being invited to make proposals” and “being forced to enter contracts on compromised terms” and one man, Blaine Dillard.
Then there is the layer of ridiculousness to be overcome before a jury as an LLC claims to have been fiscally crippled by the actions of a single parent.
Numerous times in the course of its lawsuit against Dilliard, MVP mantains that Dillard’s “statement was and is false, defamatory, and not subject to any privilege.”
Dillard started his MVP-critical blog in March 2019; by June 2019, he and another Wake County parent had started filing public records requests related to the school system’s $1.4M expenditure on MVP beginning in the 2018-19 school year.
On September 09, 2019, Dillard countersued MVP; in that suit, Dillard often repeats that the content of his MVP criticism “speaks for itself,” and Dillard frequently “denies the allegations” of what MVP had termed false, defamatory, and harmful.
MVP’s money arguably would have been better spent on a campaign in which they locate and feature the many satisfied customers MVP surely believes that it has.
Now MVP has established itself as willing to sue parents to boost its reputation.
“Hello, prospective school system. This is MVP. What do you think about entering into a contract with us for our math products?”
“I dunno. You know, Blaine Dillard and all.”
“No worries. We sued Dillard and won! No parent gonna keep us down! So, do we have a deal?”
[Silence.]
“Hello?”
Poorly decided, MVP.
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MVP is a non-profit started by a teacher. There is no way they would risk the expense and bad press of a lawsuit if there weren’t some grounds. Mr. Dilliard has indeed crossed many lines, especially in his public comments at school board meetings. Teachers have described his behavior towards them as harrassment and he trolls social media incessantly. Not sure the lawsuit is without merit.
I find no record of a nonprofit named “mathematics vision project” with the IRS, or on Foundation Finder, and no in-text reference via ProPublica for the term. Could you provide the nonprofit filing name or the EIN?
No, Denise can’t provide either, because Denise just lied to you about MVP being a non-profit (either that, or Denise did not technically lie, but rather is repeating a lie that was told to her about MVP being a non-profit, blindly taking someone else’s word for it, and did so without first checking out the truth.)
The issue has been well covered by local media near the school district. These media reports clearly state that MVP is a nonprofit. I don’t know any more than that. In fact the curriculum itself is open source and provided for free for anyone. They only charge for training or printed materials (vs. pdfs). The curriculum is absolutely sound. Specifically it benefits disadvantaged students in many ways. This parent and his followers have been harassing any teacher that dares speak in favor of it. They are privileged parents who are displeased that their child suddenly has to work for the A that they have traditionally just been handed. I am not a legal expert, I have no idea if the lawsuit has merit, but the parent being sued is not hero of any sort.
Perhaps this explains some of the confusion. It appears that there is a partnership between MVP and Open Up Resources (which is a nonprofit) https://openupresources.org/math-curriculum/high-school/. The materials were created by a teacher in partnership with the Utah Department of education and a have a creative commons license. The Wake County BOE just approved a contract tonight with Open Up Resources for only $150,000 for a full years worth of on site training for the whole district (one of the largest in the country). If MVP or OUR is out to make money, they are clearly doing it wrong.
Interesting. I read several of Mr. Dillard’s blogs and found them to be incredibly well researched and written. It is amazing to me that this curriculum “choice” created such controversy and that teachers are obviously so afraid to speak out. Red flags everywhere.
And,oh, this math curriculum controversy is not yours alone. We have the same issue here with Eureka Math. You can always count on reform strategies to pop up like weeds in other states. It’s almost like – but no – couldn’t be a scheme being promoted by – well I won’t throw any names out there. https://wakemvp.blogspot.com/2019/06/witness-tampering-suppressing-public.html?m=1
Doesn’t matter who started it. The program is terrible. It forces kids to “construct” learning without any background whatsoever, and so kids learn all kinds of incorrect concepts. My district used it one year and cancelled it. Meanwhile, the 9th grade math was using all kinds of calculus concepts, which is totally inappropriate for 14 year olds who haven’t even achieved abstract reasoning yet.
Wrong. MVP has never been a NonProfit according to the IRS. You wouldn’t happen to be Denise Tillery would you?
Look at this re: MVP: courseCategoryCertificateProfile.do
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Reblogged this on David R. Taylor-Thoughts on Education.
The amount of stupidity in this situation is staggering. Parent would rather complain on FB than help their child & who cares about 1 parent, your program should have data it works, don’t sue.
Reblogged this on Nonpartisan Education Group.