Toronto Director of Education Chris Spence works a couple weeks in 2013, paid $242,000

It was revealed this week that Chris Spence, the disgraced former director of the Toronto District School Board, was paid $241,000 in 2013 plus $1,000 in taxable benefits. But in 2013, Spence worked for less than a month. A couple weeks into January, it was discovered he had a long – and continuing – history of plagiarism, and Spence resigned.  

According to the Globe & Mail: “The TDSB defended Mr. Spence’s salary. ‘That amount takes into consideration the director’s severance following his departure from the TDSB,’ said spokesman Ryan Bird.”

Lovely. So that means Spence was paid about $20,000 for the couple weeks he worked, then got a severance package worth $220,000. And who says crime doesn’t pay?

I blogged about this back in January of 2013 when it happened. It seems I underestimated the size of Spence’s severance package, but the point I made back then remains the same: there was no reason to give him any severance package at all. But rather than firing him, the Trustees decided to let him retire and walk away with $220,000 that should have gone to the teachers and other TDSB employees doing their jobs without cheating.

That's one more reason to vote out all the trustees who are supposed to be running our school board. 

I'd be more than happy to hear about trustees who are doing a good job, but if we have any good trustees, they're obviously out-voted by the bad ones. And if you have any doubts on that score, start reading here.

P.S. Fourteen months since Spence’s history of plagiarism was discovered, the University of Toronto is still investigating whether Spence should have his PhD withdrawn for plagiarizing his dissertation. Of course, he was granted his PhD by OISE, and they’re mainly interested in a student's political views. So it may be they’re disinclined to withdraw a degree for a little thing like cheating.