SOS TDSB continues to call out examples of activism superseding education. Photo Credit: Save our Schools TDSB/X.
Can anything be done for school boards that have fallen into wasteful spending, mediocrity and damaging ideologies? Yes, and Save our Schools TDSB is showing how.
This coalition of students, parents, educators, and community members are tackling issues at the Toronto District School Board by exposing problems, proposing solutions, and mobilizing for their implementation. Their initiatives are highlighting the way forward, not only in their own city, but for so many others suffering the same malaise.
The TDSB made headlines after students in late September went on what was alleged to be an observational field trip for an Indigenous demonstration. Despite promises students would not participate, many joined a march as people were led in chants of “From Turtle Island to Palestine!”
Premier Doug Ford called the incident “disgusting.” He told educators to stay away from “indoctrination” and “Stick with teaching the kids geography, history, math, spelling.”
Trustee Weidong Pei, who is aligned with SOS, was unsurprised. Twice in the previous six months, he had unsuccessfully moved that the TDSB refuse “the promotion of a particular point of view with respect to a current geopolitical or international conflict.”
Pei, along with trustee Dennis Hastings, moved for a full apology, an investigation and steps to prevent future incidents. Although an apology was issued, his third attempt at the motion was scuttled.
Although the education minister subsequently warned all Ontario school boards school activities should “never be used as vehicles for political protests” with inflammatory content, it happened anyway.
At TDSB school RH King Academy, Principal Catherine Chang told parents by email they were advising students who wanted to protest for Palestine on October 7 to “do so in a constructive, respectful and responsible manner” and away from school. Scarborough and Mississauga had their own student protests.
As of Oct. 4, 2024, Jacob Barghout, a Vice Principal at Humberside Collegiate Institute, included the statement, “Our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians,” in his work email signature.
SOS TDSB continues to call out examples of activism superseding education. It reposted the screenshot of a professional development for York Regional District teachers held in 2023 that was supposed to be about math.
“What is your understanding of your identity and how your privilege and power shapes the way you experience the world?” a screen asked.
“How have you used your socio-cultural/socio-political consciousness to inform your planning, instruction and assessment of mathematics learning?”
Of course, this didn’t help York students learn math. Nor are such ideologies helping in Toronto. Competency in reading, writing, and arithmetic among grade sixers is down. Math scores are especially low, with the number of students at or above the provincial standard sitting at just 52 per cent.
What is up is violence. The emphasis on diversity, equity, and inclusion did nothing to stop the count of violent incidents rising above its total of 283 in 2018-19. The count was 407 in 2022-23 and didn’t even include the 13 students who brought explosive substances to school.
While most people were having turkey on Thanksgiving, the group was notifying the public about upcoming attempts by Pei and Hastings to enable more disclosure at the school board.
Trustees Weidong Pei and Dennis Hastings have proposed a review of the TDSB’s open data policy. It was established in 2018 then all-but-forgotten. Thanks to a series of delays, the policy has never been reviewed, and unless Pei and Hastings are successful, it will remain abandoned until Fall 2026.
The policy said, “the Board will establish and maintain an inventory of system-wide data and datasets. However, a formal information request revealed that, six years later, “At present, there is no formal inventory of system-wide data and datasets within Toronto District School Board.”
According to the motion, the web portal has few reports and hasn’t been updated since March 2021. It seems some bureaucrats gave tdsb.on.ca/open-data a fresh coat of paint in advance of Wednesday’s upcoming debate on the motion. The site now includes reports in the current fiscal year.
“TDSB has been a secret society for too long!” complained SOS TDSB on Twitter. “Open data can provide: #’s of schools, #’s of students, #’s of teachers and repairs $’s needed to fix schools.”
A school board as big as TDSB is a taxpayer-funded empire all its own, as are many others across Canada. Disclosure allows scrutiny of dollars spent and results given, leading to better results.
For too long, schools and board elections have received the least attention from voting citizens. Groups like SOS TSDB are turning the tide and are needed across Canada. As schools go, so goes the nation. With enough perseverance they can change for the better.
