Minister Calandra has tasked his Education Czar, Rohit Gupta, with making millions of dollars in cuts to the TDSB budget for next year. Among those cuts are the Model Schools for Inner Cities Program (MSIC), and the Parent, Caregiver and Community Engagement Office (PCCEO) that supports those schools. The Model Schools Program was established in 2006 to tackle the impacts of poverty on students in lower income areas. 150 schools with the highest Learning Opportunities Index (LOI) are selected for additional funding and support to try and lessen the gap in opportunities and student success. Model schools receive support in four key areas:

• Teaching and learning practices
• Social, emotional and physical well-being of students
• Community connection and partnerships
• Student testing to evaluate progress

We, the parents of Melody Village Junior Middle school, a model school in Etobicoke, in Doug Ford’s riding, will lose these supports, put in place to give our students a leg up when the financial and economic odds are stacked against them.  In Doug Ford’s riding, 15 out of 19 schools are considered Model Schools. Those schools include Claireville JS, Greenholme JMS, Elmbank JMA, Albion Heights JMS, Beaumonde Heights JMS, North Kipling JMS, Braeburn JS, Elmlea JS, Highfield JS and The Elms JMS, among others. These cuts mean that our students will have less teaching support and larger class sizes, lose extra reading support, hearing, dental and vision clinics, and the nutrition program that ensures our students aren’t trying to learn on empty stomachs.

The students in Model Schools are given additional testing known as the CAT4 to track reading and writing levels. The program has shown positive results, helping students that historically lagged their wealthier peers catch up. For a government who’s obsessed with the province’s EQAO results, they’re cutting the very program that brought up the Model Schools’ EQAO scores, helping close the gap  on the inequity faced by our children.

The PCCEO, which is also on the chopping block, is a key pillar for the families of students who attend model schools. The Community Engagement Workers partnered with these schools help the families with everything from how to apply for grants, addressing which supports are needed for student success, to helping families access social supports and navigate the Ontario school system. They go above and beyond for their school communities, whether it’s guiding school councils, providing food to families in need, or checking in on families who are going through a difficult time. They also set up learning opportunities for parents like courses to obtain food handling certification or First Aid, seminars on how to write a resume or prepare your taxes. They do all of this to proactively improve the lives of our students’ parents and caregivers.

The TDSB likely has areas where money can be saved. For example, schools and councils are often overcharged for products and services through the approved vendors program. Instead, Calandra and Gupta are choosing the worst place to start: cutting funds that directly support our most vulnerable students. Cutting important services like the Model Schools program, the PCCEO and special education feels like an attack on the students who need the most support. That’s not financial mismanagement on the part of the board; that’s the government refusing to invest in our future – the next generation. It's a pattern that’s become well established, with the government refusing to keep up with inflation, leaving our schools in a deficit.

Ford’s government has proven with all their decisions that they only believe in serving a certain type of Ontarian, and according to our LOI, that’s not us. Education is a right, not a privilege. Stand with us as we tell them that we do not support these cuts. Our students deserve better.