By Natasha Burford

Natasha Burford is a grade 6 teacher, and a PhD student at UofT. She currently runs More than Marks, a learning and enrichment tutorial centre at Keele and Sheppard.In the last few weeks, there has been a lot of discussion around the announced cuts throughout the Toronto District School Board, along with a much-heated debate from parent groups and teacher unions.If you are a parent, with a child in a TDSB school, you may be asking yourself: how will these cuts affect my child?The TDSB is Canada's largest school board governing 451 elementary schools, 110 secondary schools, and 5 adult education schools educating over 289,577 students.The TDSB’s operating budget is approximately $3 billion per year, and is under the jurisdiction of the provincial government. However, due to a bigger provincial deficit and in an attempt to save costs over the next few years, in April 2014, the Province of Ontario announced its funding for the 2014-15 school year, and unfortunately, the TDSB experienced significant cuts to special education (by $7.3 million) and its school operations funding (by $10 million).Hence, in order to reduce TDSB’s $16.5 million projected deficit, suggested cuts include: 260 job cuts, including special education and English as a second language positions. Also included are elementary and secondary teachers, as well as secretaries and vice principals.Special education programs, affecting 40,000 students, partly due to low enrollment are said to be on the chopping block. Lastly, 130 schools across Toronto, of underutilized space will be reviewed or closed due to declining attendance.What does this all mean for parents? If cuts are approved, this could mean larger class sizes for students all across the city. This also means less individual instruction, and more disruptions in regular classes with teachers who are trying to serve the diverse needs of more students.Staff will present a three-year balanced budget plan and capital plan at the June 2014 Board meeting.The main pressure is coming from the provincial government to the TDSB board to cut costs and with several new elected trustees, parents need to ensure trustees keep their promises to stand up for the success of students and their families, by rejecting these cuts to public education.