On the PTO Today news blog, A PTA president stole $40,000 from a PTA in Queens, New York.
What happened to the State PTA Police???
Don't they require audits of the books??

They do require audits but contrary to the popular belief on these boards, the "PTA police" can only do so much. If an embezzelment is suspected, they will investigate it. However, NYC PTAs are not PTAs in the traditional sense anyway. They are a part of the NYC School Districts and not part of National PTA. ("during the course of a Department of Education Regional Office audit of P.S. 152's PTA, discrepancies were discovered")

Embezzelment can happen no matter how many safeguards are put in place and it can happen at PTAs and PTOs
Consider these...
www.thejournalnet.com/Main.asp?SectionID...&ArticleID=53040
http://www.neoshodailynews.com/articles/...9/09/news/news02.txt
www.azcentral.com/community/gilbert/arti...r-sentencingZ12.html

One of the sad facts is that the media will often use the term PTA to describe a parent group.

This President was obviously a PTO president, especially when you consider that National PTA has no units within New York City by a ruleing of a previous chancellor.
I am surprised that the Blog let this one by with out a disclaimer, or fact checking!

As for the "PTA Police" I have never seen them!!

Sadly, there are hundreds of stories of embezzlement from PTAs and PTOs. An audit does not prevent fraud, it only increases the chance that it is detected. By the time someone gets around to their yearend audit, the treasury could be cleaned out.

And I, too, am confused by what PTA Police you think are out there....though I would imagine most, if not all, PTAs have annual audit requirements, they don't do much if you don't submit it. It's not like there's some big staff at each state level going around and checking into the daily ins and outs of each local unit.

Originally posted by mum24kids:
Sadly, there are hundreds of stories of embezzlement from PTAs and PTOs. An audit does not prevent fraud, it only increases the chance that it is detected. Quick aside. I think the above is correct with one addition.

Audits help detect fraud. And a system with an annual audit (among other controls) also helps to prevent fraud, because a tempted person will be less likely to steal the more likely it is that she will be caught. So they're effective on two levels -- prevention and detection.

Tim

Originally posted by SAFin RI:
One of the sad facts is that the media will often use the term PTA to describe a parent group.

This President was obviously a PTO president, especially when you consider that National PTA has no units within New York City by a ruleing of a previous chancellor.
I am surprised that the Blog let this one by with out a disclaimer, or fact checking!

As for the "PTA Police" I have never seen them!! Hi SAF --

I agree that the media often uses the PTA term when referring to any/all parent groups. It's like Kleenex. I think that trend is one of the biggest reasons why much/most of the country can't believe it when they learn that most parent groups actually *aren't* formal PTAs.

As for the blog, the group in question actually is called a PTA. Most/all of the groups in the NYC public schools are. You're right that they are not formally-affiliated with state and national PTAs, but that is the name they go by.

Agree with the other posters in this thread -- embezzlement is equal opportunity. It's got very little to do with the acronym and a lot to do with the controls put in place by the local group.

Tim