Premier Doug Ford says school boards “need to get their act together” and again pledged that no teacher will lose their job because of changes brought in by his government.

Asked about the possibility of teacher layoffs in Toronto — as other boards have warned, given provincial cutbacks — Ford said that won’t happen.

The Toronto District School Board recently sent out a memo about staffing for the fall, letting teachers know that those with more seniority will be able to “bump” more junior ones out of their jobs, and can’t guarantee that everyone in the end will have a position.

In order to keep the promise of no layoffs as it boosts class sizes starting in Grade 4, the Ontario government has set up a $1.6 billion attrition fund. The Toronto board, however, said that won’t cover teachers whose positions are being lost because of previous cuts, or those moving from central positions back into the classroom.

“We have been clear that we hope to place any staff who have been bumped, by the end of the summer and into the school year, however we are not in a position to guarantee that at this time,” said Toronto board Chair Robin Pilkey.

“According to the details provided by the Ministry of Education, the province’s attrition protection funding does not apply in all situations. As a result and in accordance with our collective agreements, we have notified staff that layoffs are a possibility.”

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The Toronto board is already facing a $67.8 million shortfall, $42 million of which is because of provincial cuts.

On Friday, Ford said his government is “going to be supporting (school boards) on finding savings, and running things more efficiently.”

“Some of these school boards — you’ve got to wonder about them,” he also said at a press conference in Courtice, east of Oshawa, adding there’s “oodles and oodles of waste.”

He said “I believe in trying to work with them — even though these guys waste more money than you could imagine.”

Finance Minister Vic Fedeli has said the government is adding $700 million to education for this year, but much of it is due to growing enrolment, the child-care rebate as well as the first instalment of the attrition fund.

Opposition Leader Andrea Horwath noted the Halton District School Board surveyed 7,000 parents and found little support for fewer teachers, fewer — and larger — classes in high school, and mandatory online credits.

“The government is not working with its partners,” said Interim Liberal Leader John Fraser. “It needs to do that because it’s impacting kids.”

A number of new parent groups spoke out Friday saying they don’t feel this government is listening.

“According to the Ford government’s plan, in three years from now, one-quarter of today’s high school classes will no longer exist, severely limiting our kids one-on-one time with teachers and limiting their opportunities” said Kylie Balogh, of Waterdown Families for Public Education.

“Parents across Ontario know these cuts will gut our public system, and that is why we have joined forces to stop them.”

Cathy Abraham, president of the Ontario Public School Boards Association, said it remains to be seen whether the attrition funding will be enough to cover the loss of thousands of teaching positions over the next four years.

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She said while the government has been saying there’s more money in education, per-pupil spending is down so there will be general and support staff budget cuts.

“It’s unfortunate,” she said. “It’s not going to be a good year.”

The province has said it wants school boards to chop 4 per cent from their budgets, something Abraham said will be very difficult given most of their budgets are on staffing and salaries.

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