Dear Premier Wynne & Minister Sandals – accountability please!

January 20, 2015

In response to Margaret Wilson’s report and Minister Sandals’ subsequent directions to the TDSB, Fix Our Schools wrote to the Province and encourages parents to also write Premier Wynne & Minister Sandals

Fix Our Schools is requesting:

1. long-term, constructive help to the TDSB with real dialogue focused on real change

2. another external audit of the TDSB focused on the students and teachers to unearth all the ways that classrooms are being negatively impacted

3. emergency funding to fix roofs and address urgent repairs at TDSB schools

You can easily make the same requests by clicking the link above and adding your name, mailing address and TDSB school info to the bottom of the letter and cc:ing your MPP, who is your local voice to the Provincial government and your Trustee, who is your local voice to the TDSB.

The letters that many of you sent to the Provincial government this fall are being heard. Minister Liz Sandals has spoken publicly about our requests for money to fix roofs. These requests were also mentioned by Matt Galloway on Monday’s edition of CBC Metro Morning. There is power in parent advocacy so please take the time to write!

Students have been impacted for years!

January 18, 2015

Some classrooms in the TDSB registered 15 degrees celsius last week (to give you context, Toronto by-laws demand a minimum of 21 degrees celsius for tenants!). The state of many TDSB schools is appalling: cold classrooms; leaking roofs; washrooms with no doors or working locks; and no soap in washrooms are all pretty standard fare across TDSB schools. However, Minister of Education Liz Sandals claims that the dysfunction of the TDSB has not yet impacted students. From Fix Our Schools’ perspective, it has been impacting students and their teachers for years! The $3.5 Billion of outstanding repairs and maintenance that the TDSB has been allowed to accumulate under the watchful eye of this Provincial government impacts the safety, success and well-being of our children every single day.

Fix Our Schools applauds Margaret Wilson’s work and was pleased to see the Province take strong action in directing the TDSB to implement all of Ms. Wilson’s recommendations in short order. We are optimistic that Margaret Wilson’s report and Minister Sandals’ directions are the first step towards the Province providing meaningful, long-term intervention to ensure the safety, success and well-being of our children. Ms. Wilson’s report states that the culture of fear referred to in the 2103 Ernst and Young Audit is even more pervasive now, demonstrating that short-term interventions by the Province have done nothing to improve the situation at the TDSB.

The fact that Minister Sandals does not see how students have already been impacted is extremely worrisome and may indicate that Margaret Wilson’s mandate was too narrow. Ms. Wilson’s report provides great insight into the top-down view of the TDSB but does not include a view of the situation from the ground-up – from a student’s perspective.

Toronto Community Housing Corp. – a model for the TDSB?

December 18, 2014

The Toronto Community Housing Corp. (TCHC) has a $2.6-billion, 10-year plan to repair hundreds of aging buildings that have fallen into a state of disrepair. This plan relies on all three levels of government. To date, only the City of Toronto has committed its $860-million share; neither the province nor the feds have contributed a cent.

Greg Spearns, President and CEO of TCHC, says, “The logic is compelling. What we are asking for is a one-time investment of $50,000 a unit to fix our homes and that compares with a cost of $250,000 to $300,000 per unit if we have to shut them down and rebuild. It makes smart economic sense as well as being extremely socially responsible.”

Stop – does this sound familiar?

The TDSB has a $3.5 Billion backlog of repairs on its 600 buildings. Only at the moment, there is no plan to address this issue fully so TDSB is schools are falling into a further state of repair. We should be watching this TCHC example closely to see if there if anything can be learned that could apply to the TDSB. One thing is certain, to address the magnitude of repairs at the TDSB is going to require multiple levels of government working together.

Are Trustees needed?

December 10, 2014
  • The position of TDSB Trustee is a part-time role
  • TDSB Trustees earn approximately $26,000/year
  • These individuals are charged with governing a $3 Billion operation known as the TDSB
  • The Province holds power over the money and most of the major school board decisions.

Given the facts above, nobody should be surprised that things aren’t going so well at the largest school board in Canada and that the question of whether we need Trustees has been in the media of late.

The Star: Dump our Trustees and dissolve our school boards

Globe & Mail: Abolish the school boards

Ottawa Citizen: How to fix the school system

We look forward to hearing what Margaret Wilson recommends upon completing her external audit of the TDSB and whether a new form of governance might be in the cards.

First meeting of the new TDSB Trustees

December 4, 2014

Fix Our Schools called upon the Province to step in and help the TDSB and, surprisingly, they did – for a month anyways.

We also asked Premier Wynne to attend the first meeting of the new board. Not surprisingly, Premier Wynne was a no-show. However, as far as 3-hour meetings go, the December 1st TDSB meeting was well-run, respectful and the new Trustees handily got through the business of electing a Chair, Vice-Chair and striking the many committees that were on the agenda.

Meanwhile, Margaret Wilson has started her external audit of the TDSB. Fix Our Schools has sent letters to the Province, the TDSB, and Margaret Wilson, urging all to stay focused on the safety, success and well being of TDSB students throughout this audit.

Our letters to the the Province and Ms. Wilson also request emergency funding to the TDSB to replace all roofs that have leaked in the last 18 months as well as all other repairs documented as urgent. We see this as an immediate step that the Province needs to take to address the appalling state of TDSB schools and one that cannot happen soon enough! If you would like to email the Province as well, simply click here , fill in your information at the bottom and cc: your MPP.

Will our new mayor give public education the attention it needs?

December 1, 2014

On his first official day as Toronto’s Mayor, John Tory met with Premier Kathleen Wynne to discuss priorities and how the two levels of government can work together towards the best possible decisions for constituents. Wynne said the two have committed to meeting regularly.

The agenda included transit, housing and investment opportunities.  While public education is arguably as important to Toronto’s future success as transit, it is notably absent from this morning’s meeting agenda.

With 246,000 students attending almost 600 schools, the TDSB is a $3 Billion bureaucracy that requires attention not only from the TDSB Trustees who govern the board but also from our new Mayor and City Council.  Last week, the TDSB finally got the attention of the Province with Liz Sandals announcing that outside expert Margaret Wilson will be conducting a review of the TDSB.  What is required next is for the TDSB to get the attention of the City too.

John Tory and the TDSB arguably have similar visions – a vibrant city filled with educated, healthy citizens.  So let’s hope that our new Mayor will also forge new relations with our local school board. With regular meetings between our City Council and the TDSB, we could see a stronger Toronto.

250,000 TDSB students need the Ministry’s help

November 18, 2014

After reading yet again about the ongoing dysfunction (and possible corruption) at the TDSB, Fix Our Schools is urging the Province to please help TDSB students and get involved in working with Canada’s largest school board to address the massive challenges it faces.

The public school students of Toronto have been penalized long enough for the inability of the grown-ups in charge to work together. The TDSB is in crisis and we ask all TDSB parents to write the Premier and Minister of Education, asking them to step in and help get the mammoth ship known as the TDSB back on course.  To make it easy…

Email Premier Wynne & Minister Sandals

Letter to Premier Wynne & Minister Sandals

Email your MPP too – they are YOUR elected official at Queen’s Park! 

 

Education Development Charges (EDCs) 101

November 16, 2014

Fix Our Schools believes that the Provincial regulation guiding the collection and use of EDCs must be changed. The TDSB agrees, as do many other school boards across the province. We’ve been lobbying the Province for change and so has the TDSB.

Check these out to find out what the TDSB has been doing:

TDSB Press Release re: EDCs

TDSB EDC Report

TDSB Letter to Minister of Education re: EDCs

TDSB Letter to Premier re: EDCs