TORONTO, May 26 /CNW/ - Last week, the Toronto District School Board's Senior Staff presented a multi-year funding model to the Board of Trustees in response to the Board's current $100 million budget shortfall. The multi-year plan proposes to balance the Board's books with help from the province, including mitigation funding and permission to run a temporary deficit. The cost to students and communities within the public education system in Toronto however, will be steep. The multi-year deal with the province would include painful cuts to programs and services which do not meet the current funding formula (for example, Education Assistants, pools, teacher-librarians etc.) and the consolidation and/or closure of 58 schools. Ironically, the TDSB's deficit, which has not been broadcast widely, is due to the Liberal under-funding for teacher salaries (approximately $90 million) and a failure of the provincial government to address other benchmark funding gaps (hydro, gas, transportation etc.). "Parents in these communities will be white-hot with anger, when they find out that below the surface of endless Provincial promises of improvement the Toronto public school system is a financial crisis that is so severe that many parents and students could be displaced," said TPN spokesperson Cathy Dandy. Ms. Dandy and TDSB Trustees will speak about the school closure issue at a media conference at << Brant Public School 20 Brant Street (King and Spadina) Friday, May 26, 2006 at 12 noon TDSB officials are brokering this "deal" with many critical questions left unanswered: - Why are Trustees being asked to consider closing schools before the TDSB 10-year facility plan has been implemented--which includes exploring multi-use of empty space? - Why are Trustees being asked to consider closing schools before the Mayor and City Council have been informed of a deal which would have a drastic impact on Toronto's neighbourhoods? - Why are Trustees being asked to consider closing schools when pedagogy has shown that small schools tend to provide a safer, more stable environment for children and youth and support parent involvement (a key indicator of student success)? - Why are Trustees being asked to consider closing schools when the Liberal government has not implemented the main Rozanski recommendation, paying the real costs of teacher salaries and benefits, which is the root cause of most Ontario school boards' deficits?