The role of a PTO is to help create the kind of environment where teachers and students can do their best work. That takes many different forms depending on the needs of the school and the community -- tor example, creating events and programs to help support the educational needs of the school, helping parents get connected to the school so they can better take part in their children's education, raising funds, helping in the office and/or the classroom, supporting teachers, helping to decorate the school and make it more family friendly, etc., etc. What the PTO doesn't do is manage the school curriculum or staff, or deal with confidential issues like learning or behavior problems involving individual students and their parents. Those types of things are the purview of the principal and faculty.
- Craig
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