PTO Today

This messy story just goes on and on, it seems.  You may recall that the Prince George’s County (MD) county PTA was disbanded by the Maryland state PTA last spring. County officers (a new slate had been elected just weeks earlier) were less than pleased.  So, the update today is the the state and national PTA have appointed seven “team members” to help local PTAs, though the county complaints contiue.

Doesn’t this all just seem like a whole lot of hubbub about stuff that’s a long, long way from the typical parent group’s goals and experience (and needs)? Or is that just me? Worth noting that the PTA’s in this County send roughly $32,000 per year out to state and national PTA.

So I was interviewed for this embezzle story from an Arkansas paper. Reporter did a good job of capturing most of the basics (PTA dues structure, PTA membership decline), but missed one really key element of the story. Arkansas state PTA leaders make the really bold claim that being a PTA would have prevented this PTO’s embezzle loss. All I suggested was that reporter do a google search on “PTA + Embezzle” and another on “PTO + Embezzle” The clear conclusion: embezzlement is an equal opportunity challenge for parent groups. No doubt. Related link: All of these stories make it more clear than ever that your PTO should get insurance.

Now it’s the Dallas PTA council that has its charter revoked by state PTA. Similar story in Maryland this past spring. Bureaucracy is a lovely thing.

Ouch. Boston Herald opinion piece pulls no punches in questioning the effectiveness and political role of Massachusetts (and national) PTA.

St. Louis paper uses occasion of this year’s national PTA convention in that town to take detailed look at severe PTA membership drop over past decades.

Maryland state PTA shuts down a regional affiliate, over objections of local community leaders.

Detailed feature from Dallas looks at declining membership numbers for Texas state PTA and PTA overall. One quibble: declining PTA numbers often do not equate to declining parent involvement. If state PTA loses 250 members because a unit goes PTO, that doesn’t mean parent involvement is down; it means that PTA membership difference. Subtle but key difference. Want to talk about PTo v PTA — check out our message board on the issue.

Local PTO president on Long Island, NY makes an impassioned case in her local paper about the merits of her quite large parent group.

Excuse the rant, but … man-oh-man …. does the PTA ever want it both ways. This article from New Hampshire has the national PTA president, Anna Weselak, making a recruiting visit to a local PTO. (Note: she and a bunch of other PTA muckety-mucks were up in NH for a sparsely-attended New England PTA expo.) That’s OK, but I just wish PTA would be more straight-forward. When recruiting a PTO, it’s: “Weselak decried accusations that her group is politically motivated…”. But when talking in DC or on its own website, it’s all about advocacy and growing “the voice.” PTA is political or it is not. Both are fine. But providing the answer of convenience depending on who’s asking is too slippery for my taste. (And I’ll save the rant about the other half-truths in that article.

California paper does good job of describing the breadth of parent group work in its region. But the research on the actual differences between PTOs and PTAs could have been a bit more nuanced. Example: writer could have started here.