If 75% of the K-8 schools are PTO's, then why dosen't PTO represent parent groups to the government?
PTA seems to be the only parent group voice that the powers that be listen to.

As much as I like Tim, I didn't elect him to represent issues on my behalf. There isn't a comparable "PTO" organization to the National PTA. PTO is a generic term that refers to any parent group not affiliated with PTA. The key feature of being a PTO is your independence. To some, that may be a disadvantage since, by definition, there is no central national membership organization that speaks on our behalf. But that also means PTO's are free to run their groups as they see fit since they are locally controlled and not responsible to a national organization.

I assume that Tim might be called upon by the media as a parent group expert, but that doesn't mean he can speak on my behalf or spend the money (i.e. dues) of my parent group as is the case with PTA members.

Critter gets it dead on.

Yeah, we (PTO Today) get called on an awful lot to speak about parent groups and about what parent groups think or do, but we don't speak *for* parent groups.

Two small quibbles with the original assertion that PTA seems to be the only parent group voice that the powers that be listen to. 1. There are significant questions as to whether the PTA's voice is truly effective. It certainly gets lip service, but its actual effects are up for debate. 2. While there is no other formal voice of parent groups, there are certainly many groups and many politicians who feel and act strongly on behalf of parents. If PTA went away -- by your assertion then leaving no voice of parent groups -- I'm pretty sure parents (a huge voting block) and kids ("for the children" seems to be a favorite motivator of many political moves) would still be widely considered as decisions are made.

Tim

I came across a PTS club ... loved it! stands for Parents, teachers and STUDENTS. Saw it online somehwere. I like that the school involved the students since that is who we are serving.