Should City Take Over Public Schools?

We know that the city has money problems attributable to covering costs that are provincial responsibilities. We know that the public school boards have funding model concerns with the province related to both operations and building renovation/maintenance and face shifting & declining student populations.

We hear about school closures and the "monetization" of public assets In short, sell them to raise money. In Toronto, the TDSB has many properties either on the market or going to the market within a couple of years. They expect to receive "market" prices.

But will selling off assets without public scrutiny and transparency be in the public good? Here's a story that you might like to read from the Mirror : Toronto and Region Conservation Authority steps up to purchase Heathercrest Park and from the Toronto Sun Endangered park saved by a swale

Since the province is far removed from the city is there a fundamental question that needs to be asked, especially in an election year: Should the City Take Over Public Schools?

Such a takeover would insure that city planning would encompass public assets that penetrate all neighbourhoods but whose misplaced sale could misdirect good urban design, that city schools receive more enlightened funding for capital needs, that a lot of green space now TDSB land would become City of Toronto green space and become under the city Parks and Forest management and maybe most important that compensation for our elected school trustees brings forth the fulltime talent and skills needed for public education.