Calandra’s school board takeover will just let Ford and his cuts off the hook

Doug Ford’s government has finally dropped the other shoe. After years of starving our public schools of the funding they need to properly serve students, Paul Calandra—the same Minister who stood by while Ford sold off the Greenbelt—has announced a provincial takeover of the Toronto, the Toronto Catholic, the Dufferin-Peel Catholic and the Ottawa-Carleton District School Boards

Let’s be clear: this isn’t about fixing our schools. It’s about this government trying to wash its hands of the damage it has caused.

 

 

Ford and Calandra say they’re stepping in to deal with “structural deficits” at the TDSB. But those deficits didn’t appear out of nowhere—and they certainly weren’t created by the teachers, education workers, or families who’ve been holding the system together with sheer goodwill. They are the direct result of chronic underfunding, provincial cuts, and downloaded costs.

The TDSB’s own budget documents make this plain.

The Board faces millions in underfunded, unfunded, or overspent areas, much of it beyond their control:

• $30.5 shortfall for school safety
• $66 million shortfall just to cover the real costs of sick leave replacements for teachers and ECEs.
• $38.5 million shortfall in special education funding.
• $43.7 million in costs from increased Canada Pension Plan and EI premiums without corresponding provincial funding.
• $26.1 million shortfall due to a ministry of education salary grid mandating higher TDSB teacher salaries
• Nearly $41 million the board would have received if the province hadn’t eliminated funding to operate schools with excess capacity—while simultaneously banning school closures.

The list goes on: mental health supports, school safety, student transportation, outdoor education, lunchroom supervision—all underfunded, all critical to keeping students safe, supported, and learning.

Rather than fixing that funding, Calandra’s solution is to seize control and scapegoat local trustees. But no amount of governance restructuring, no matter how heavy-handed, can erase basic math. The Board simply does not have the money to run the system students deserve.

And let’s not forget the PricewaterhouseCoopers report, commissioned by the Ministry itself, makes this clear: even with aggressive cost-cutting and rejected savings proposals, the board’s shortfalls persist. The report acknowledges that the Board has to sell properties to meet its commitments because the Ministry won’t let it save money by closing under-enrolled schools.

If this government wants to wear the cuts, it should. But make no mistake: educators, parents, and communities will not let them download responsibility for their own failures onto our schools.

The only thing keeping this system afloat has been the goodwill of teachers and education workers. The hours they donate. The supplies they buy with their own money. The volunteer time they give to keep programs running that the province refuses to fund. That goodwill is not infinite.

We need real solutions:

✔ Immediate restoration of core education funding to cover actual costs.

✔ Investment in special education, mental health, and school safety.

✔ A halt to the harmful rhetoric and scapegoating of local trustees and frontline workers.

✔ A seat for parents and educators at any decision-making table that affects our schools.

The provincial takeover isn’t about accountability—it’s about distraction. And it’s up to all of us to call it what it is: a cynical move to cover years of cuts.

If Calandra thinks he can cut his way to a balanced budget without destroying classrooms, let him try. But we won’t be silent while he tries to sell off public education the same way Ford sold off the Greenbelt.

We see through the spin—and we’re ready to fight for the schools our students deserve.

 

 

 Nigel Barriffe,

Dad, School Teacher, Singer/Songwriter