How TDSB's staffing issues are hurting education

Plus, Trump liable for sexual abuse and Toronto's first girls’ full-tackle football team [The Star] First Up [By Manuela Vega] By Manuela Vega Good morning. Here’s the latest on a Donald Trump verdict, a staffing shortage in Toronto schools and Toronto’s first girls’ tackle football team. DON’T MISS Ed Jones/AFP via Getty Images united states [A jury has found Donald Trump liable for sexual abuse]( A jury has found that Donald Trump sexually abused advice columnist E. Jean Carroll in 1996 and that he had defamed her after she made her allegations public. As the case was civil and not criminal, Carroll was awarded $5 million, but the decision does not mean that Trump faces charges for attacking Carroll. The legal time limit for a criminal case has long since passed. Will the decision be a blow to the Republican’s campaign to return to the White House? [The Associated Press lays out the details of the case and the other investigations Trump is facing](. - By the numbers: Carroll is one of more than a dozen women who have accused Trump of sexual assault or harassment. - Watch for: Trump is in the midst of a criminal case related to hush money payments made to a porn actor in which the state attorney general has sued him, his family and his business over alleged financial wrongdoing. He also faces investigations into his potential mishandling of classified documents, his actions after the 2020 election and his activities during the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Trump denies wrongdoing in all probes. Andrew Francis Wallace/The Star education [How a revolving door of teachers is wreaking havoc in some TDSB classrooms ]( The Toronto District School Board is experiencing a staffing shortage that teachers unions are calling a “crisis.” Although the absence rate is better now than it was during the height of the pandemic, the board is facing “significant challenges,” especially in underserved communities, a spokesperson said. As the school board hires extra supply teachers and redeploys other workers, parents are sounding the alarm. [Isabel Teotonio reports on the personal experiences of students and families and how the rotation of teachers has left them feeling like they have learned nothing](. - By the numbers: At the school board, the average fill rate — the percentage of jobs covered by an occasional teacher — is 80 per cent for elementary schools and 85 per cent for high schools. - More: “I am now the steward of my child’s education,” said a mother who is tutoring her child at home. “I decide, based on my completely unprofessional interpretation, what she knows and what she doesn’t know, and I’m setting the curriculum of what we teach at home.” Richard Lautens/The Star sports [These Toronto high school girls wanted to play tackle football — so they started a team of their own]( A vanguard movement for girls and women to pay full-tackle football is taking place in Ontario, and in Toronto it can be seen at Western Technical-Commercial School. That’s where Toronto’s first high school girls’ team dedicated to the sport was born. Football coach Russ Hoff knew it was time the girls got a team of their own after a female student was so keen on playing full-tackle football that she joined the boys’ team last year. About 35 students have since joined. [Kerry Gillespie reports on how the team came to be and how it’s empowering girls](. - More: As the only such team in Toronto, Western Tech’s entire season takes place Thursday in a series of mini scrimmages against four teams from Ottawa and Sudbury high schools. The event is part of a Football Ontario female jamboree at York University, where the Ontario Women’s Football League — the first dedicated women’s tackle football league in the province — launches Saturday. - Word from a player: “I hope little girls come and see us and they see a bunch of girls being aggressive and tackling each other and that they know that that’s OK for them to want to do,” student Ruby Strong said about Thursday’s event. WHAT ELSE “That’s stupid.” [These prominent mayoral candidates are clashing over what to do about bike lanes](. “You cannot continue to play residents like they’re idiots.” [Chloe Brown’s unconventional run for mayor.]( Is this Conservative bill a trick to restrict abortion access? [Why the Liberals argue it is](. [Canada worries China “could inflict pain”]( in a battle over diplomat expulsions. Toronto makes developers replace demolished rental units. [The city fears the province plans to change that](. Canadian pension fund giants are being [grilled by federal lawmakers over their investments in China](. “The most overwhelming case I have ever seen.” [A woman is guilty in the “calculated” murder of Toronto lawyer Scott Rosen](. The deal between MLSE and the city to host the 2026 World Cup was [“binding” and “not made known” to elected officials](. Westjet pilots are protesting at Pearson airport ahead of a possible strike. [Here’s what you need to know](. Two brothers have been sentenced to six years for a [“vicious” anti-Arab beating after a Mississauga picnic](. Forget Mother’s Day brunch or that cliché afternoon tea. [We have some better ideas](. The Maple Leafs have to know [every game could be their last together](. ICYMI Susan Kao/Toronto Star Illustration [Chronic stress is a recognized work injury. Why does Ontario’s WSIB reject more than 90 per cent of claims?]( CLOSE-UP Michael Gonzalez/AP Photo TEXAS: Migrants sing the Venezuelan national anthem Monday during a vigil for the eight migrants that were killed and others that were injured a day earlier while waiting at a bus stop in Brownsville. [Information on the victims remains scarce, leaving relatives scrambling to find loved ones and pleading for information](. Thank you for reading. You can reach me and the First Up team at [firstup@thestar.ca](mailto:firstup@thestar.ca?source=newsletter&utm_source=ts_nl&utm_medium=emailutm_email=6C53B63A8E3FAD70AD4EF13004527437&utm_campaign=frst_180963). I’ll see you back here tomorrow. If you're not enjoying these emails, please tell us how we can make them better by emailing newsletterfeedback@thestar.ca. Or, if you'd prefer, you can unsubscribe from this newsletter by clicking the first link below. 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