TDSB spends $125,000 of taxpayer money to host conference at ACC with performance by Nikki Yanofsky
The Toronto District School Board’s first professional development conference is getting star power in the form of teen sensation Nikki Yanofsky. She’ll be performing her Olympic anthem “I Believe” for around 20,000 educators, parents and students, who will gather at the Air Canada Centre next fall to talk about “the importance of instruction” (and hopefully more).
Some critics are calling the conference exorbitant and are wondering why the cash-strapped TDSB would need to host such an event at a sports arena, or whether it’s even necessary. In total, the conference will cost taxpayers about $125,000—most of which will go toward the cost of renting the ACC—while another $200,000 was raised through private donations and partnerships.
But the real question is, Why aren’t they sick of “I Believe” yet? Besides, Yanofsky is so February. If the TDSB wants a truly brap-worthy conference, they’ll need Justin Bieber, disco balls and Patrón.
In other news, the TDSB has made major cuts to maintenance spending in order to avoid a projected deficit of $42 million.
• Nikki Yanofsky to help TDSB teachers ‘believe’ [Globe and Mail]
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