The Ford government is stepping in after years of waste, mismanagement and sliding public trust

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Ontario, like several other provinces, has been repeatedly frustrated with dysfunctional school boards and school trustees. A new direction for Ontario’s beleaguered education system is almost a guarantee. It will be interesting to see which route Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative (PC) government ultimately takes to help improve everything from the classroom environment to shaping young minds.

Five school boards were taken over by the province earlier this year: the Toronto District School Board, Toronto Catholic District School Board, Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board, Ottawa-Carleton District School Board and Thames Valley District School Board.

It’s fair to say that Education Minister Paul Calandra made this move as a warning to the other 72 boards to get their educational houses in order. As he told Toronto’s Newstalk 1010 in a radio interview in late August, he’s “absolutely unconvinced the best way to accomplish that is through school trustees.”

A sixth school board under provincial control isn’t a coincidence—it’s a sign of deep trouble.
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