Mayor Rob Ford earns an A for attendance but an F for breaking his promises. Royson James looks back at the mayor’s first year and rates his performance.

Name: Rob Ford

Class office: Mayor

Attendance: Very good. Rarely misses scheduled events. A

Participation: Speaks only when absolutely necessary. Almost shy. Doesn’t motivate classmates to engage. And when he speaks, it’s often polarizing. D

Homework: Rarely bothers with this. Prefers to freelance in and out of class. Offers quick and ready solutions to complicated issues. Statistics and figures often wrong. F

Quizzes: Doesn’t do well on pop quizzes, reflecting lack of preparation. Anything unscripted is a challenge. D

Schedule tests: Results presentable, especially on open-book tests. Here, his classmates brief him and prepare “talking points” that he carefully follows. B

Behaviour: Good, except when giving the finger to fellow drivers who point out it’s illegal to text/talk and drive. No sign of pot-smoking past. C

Achievement: Has changed the spending culture at city hall. Single-minded devotion to budget cuts has everyone, but police, squirming. A-

Key issues: Unable to find massive city hall waste, amounting to vats of “gravy”. Promised $525.6 million this year; found fragments. Oversees a fractured, divided city council. F

Promises broken: “No service cuts.” Eliminate fair wage policy. Remove land transfer tax. Add 100 cops. F

Promises kept: Reduce councillors’ office budget. Eliminate councillors’ free food. Reject own salary hike. Make TTC an “essential service.” Privatize half the city’s garbage collection. A

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Areas needing improvement: Collaboration and consensus-building with city council. Should expand horizons. “No” isn’t the only answer.

Overall Grade: D