You have one big thing that can help you, which is that if you haven't decided, you haven't given them a check yet. So they still have to sell their program to you.
Have you considered having a frank discussion with them about EM? Just be honest: "I'm struggling a bit with this decision, because although I like many things about your program here, my reservations about EM are significant enough that I'm very hesitant. What can you do?"
Give them specific examples of what concerns you about EM. This will help avoid responses like "Oh, but we do such a great job teaching math; our test scores are super high."
YMMV, of course, but here are some of the things that really bothered me about it when my DS was in a school that used it:
* Too much stuff that isn't mathematics (eg, write a story [the example I'm thinking of didn't involve writing an equation; it really was just a story], cut out pictures of shapes in mid-2nd grade, name presidents on coins.
* Too many questions without a right answer (eg, cut out a paper ruler and measure some stuff of your choosing at home. How does the teacher know that the measurement was correct?)
* Lack of focus (a characteristic of all spiral curricula)
* Maddeningly slow for a child who already gets it. EM uses multiple ways of showing the same thing. If the child gets the concept already, he can get frustrated going through all the different methods. I know my son did. He used to almost shout, "I hate this! Why can't we just ADD???"
Lastly, and this is a biggie, if the school agrees to something, get it writing, even if it's just an e-mail. I can't emphasize the importance of this enough. Getting things in writing avoids problems of memory later.
HTH,
Val
