Educator paid $1,200 a day to report on TDSB
Margaret Wilson billed $48K for investigating problems, offering solutions to board
Margaret Wilson, appointed by the province to look into dysfunction at the Toronto school board, was paid $1,200 a day for her work, according to documents obtained by the Star through a Freedom of Information request.
As part of her final $48,034 bill, Wilson listed 40 work days in No- vember and December of 2014, and January 2015.
Based on an eight-hour workday, that works out to $150 an hour; for a 12-hour workday, $100 an hour.
“Review of TDSB: 68 interviews, read board + ministry documents, correspondence, previous reviews + audits & copious emails. Wrote report,” she noted in the expense form submitted to the education ministry.
Wilson, a veteran educator and former union leader, also billed for two taxi rides at $17 each to the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association in downtown Toronto.
Her report on the Toronto District School Board, released in January of last year, was a scathing look at both management and elected trustees and had been ordered after a string of scandals and amid concerns about then-director Donna Quan’s management style and secrecy.
Wilson criticized trustees for meddling and exerting undue influence on staff, repeated concerns about a “culture of fear” identified in previous reports, as well as a revolving door in the top job, and noted an “acute level of distress” among staff. The report made 13 recommenda- tions to improve the board, including looking at whether it is too big to manage.
The board has since decided to decentralize its operations and establish several “learning centres” to better serve students and families.
A spokes person for Education Min- ister Liz Sandals said the $1,200 daily rate was approved by the government “and was consistent with the amount that she received as a vendor of record with the ministry.”
“The TDSB is the largest board in Canada. . . . I asked Margaret Wilson to conduct a review of the ongoing operational and governance issues of the TDSB. Margaret’s observations were troubling and confirmed the need for our government to take action. . . . We have already seen improvements as a result of Ms. Wilson’s recommendations,” Sandals said in a written statement.