In response to the idea of providing funds for or hiring an aide for the school this needs to be considered in your figures. Depending on your state's regulations and your districts union contracts you would not only be paying the base salary of the aide but also all benefits health, dental, eye and disability insurances), income taxes and retirement. Often times these additional amounts are what can be the stumbling point for getting an aide. A half-time aide can also have benefits depending on what is considered half-time by the district union contracts.

Also, you need to check into the public information in the union contracts and what you might be getting into with those.

As a board member for a charter school - our school has had to deal with these issues in order to find funds for our aides - and the amount available does change each year depending on our enrollment.

Our parent club would never consider and would not be asked to fund aides. They do give each of our teachers a set dollar amount each year for classroom suppplies - usually between $100 to $200. This is in addition to the supply amounts put aside for the teachers by the school's budget.

I personally have problems with this because the bottom line is that your BOE, your townsfolk, and even your Mayor & Council are letting down the children of your town and not providing them with the education they deserve.

Instead of doing their job for them and making their life easier your BOE needs to be held accountable for all that is lacking in your school and they are the ones that need to work at getting your school the essentials it needs. Whether you live in a poor district or a not so poor district funding and grants are available and your BOE needs to be actively persuing them. If the school budget needs to be passed at a higher amount then they need to appeal to the tax payers and the town/city council to help get their budget passed. If things are truly bad then the parents should be screaming their heads off at every BOE meeting and demanding better for their children. I know it is easier said then done, but I have seen it work firsthand. We had a specific problem in our school and the parents came out in droves demanding they fix it. Of course the parents were told there is no money and they could do nothing about it. The parents did not give up and persued it and involved the local press. Well, lo and behold 2 months later they could not take the heat anymore and found the money and made it happen. You can also report your BOE to your state education department the state can even come in and take over your BOE if they are not doing their job.

You can also appeal to your Mayor and Town council. They are a seperate entity and the school budget is typically the largest chunk of your town budget. But, I would want to make sure that they are aware of everything that is wrong and garner their support. If part of the answer lies in getting the people to pass a higher school budget then their support on the matter could be extremely beneficial.

The bottom line is that if people sit idly by and let it happen it will continue to happen. If you step in and start picking up the slack then where does it end? You just enable them to not do the job they should be doing.

In response to some of the great feedback, I would also like to voice what we've been going through, in hopes this will also give you some insight on looking at the square on all 6-sides... meaning it can be very in-depth (more like a cube).

Our school, like many, has faced HUGE budget cuts. We even had an aide lose her job, too. And like presented above about copy paper & toner, ours now has no money for teacher's supplies either. Our elem. school is already out of construction paper and there is no more money to purchase any. So, the teachers are going to buy it with their money if they have to have it. And the HS teachers (we're a small district, all-schools connected-as-one)came to the PTO asking for help with purchasing dry erase markers... so it has come back to the PTO. So, what do we do?

Our Superintendent of schools, whom I highly respect, has basically told the Prom committee, there is no money for prom -- textbooks are a much higher area of need. I have to agree with that... as bad as it may sound. I hate it for the kids -- the only thing I can do personally, to help, is to help think of ways for them to raise money to have their prom.

At first I was thinking like many, it is the responsibility of the district to provide the teachers the tools they need to do the job they are paid to do (with regards to supplies)... and maybe even the Dept of Labor (I'm not sure) would stand behind that... BUT, at the same time, if the money is not there, it just is NOT there! Our PTO has come to realize that this is an area of NEED, rather than an area of WANT.

Here's how I plan to tackle our problems... maybe it will help you?

We do not have a budget or anything of that matter. We formed our PTO just last year. I was elected President for this year and this fall we raised over $12,000 in a catalog fundraiser (150 students participating). Most of that will go for needed playground equipment/improvements, as advertised to the parents. However, I have presented the idea that a Budget Committee need to be formed and that a budget needs to be in place in order for the PTO to continue and move forward. Education is a team effort! In order to be a member of the team, you have to be playing the same game -- the game is education -- regardless!

I have researched on this website how other PTO's setup their budgets. I have come to the conclusion, in which I intend to present to our Budget Committee, that we need to establish "funds" or "accounts" that the PTO will support ongoing.

This idea suggests these "accounts" are a set on a percentage. I met with our administrators and found out our areas of need in the District. Then, I just used the $12,000 as a base number and "spent" it on paper, distributing it to areas of need. Once that was determined, there was really no way to project how well the PTO will do from year to year -- who's to say we'll make $12 grand next year on our fundraiser -- maybe we'll make more? Maybe less? Who knows? So, I then figured the percentage that was distributed to these accounts. For instance, I setup a "Teacher Supply Closet Fund" that will be receiving 4% of the PTO profits from all of our monies -- regardless of how we raise the money (membership dues; events; etc). We are not there to support the school all-in-all, but we certainly can help make a difference... and sometimes, that is all what it takes.

This should work well because the PTO will now pass the ball back into the school's court. Everyone can probably relate to how hard it is to get teacher participation at meetings, etc. (at least, we have that problem!). Teachers are essentially "professional motivators" -- and they can motivate those students very well! So, I look at it like this: if the PTO is a "company" then the teachers & staff at the school are now "shareholders" -- they have a vested interest into the PTO because every "area" of need for teachers, staff AND students has been addressed with the budget (with each area receiving a percentage of PTO funds). So, the more successful our PTO, the more money goes back into their "account."

There is also a PTO operating account setup so all of our money is not depleted. We have to have "slush" funds also, in case of a serious need that arises. The "slush" funds (or "holding funds" account) will basically be a savings account that will hold money for crunch time or be saved for future "wants" (such as a lighted sign!).

That's just my take on things. I realize it may or may not help you... but I did want to point out that the fact that you hiring a teacher aide is a good intention, just keep in mind how you plan to support that position for the long-term. That particular teacher, most likely, will be counting on that income to pay bills, etc. When your funding goes away, what are your plans to support that position?

We thought about the idea of even implementing a tutoring program. We could fund an account to pay for HS tutors to help the smaller kids or even hire college students in the neighboring town to come to our school for an after-school tutoring program. It is an idea that was presented to me that will probably be presented at our Budget Committee meeting.

I can't give you exact details on how it will turn out because our meeting is set for tomorrow night.

And, one more thing I would just like to mention, I am finding that many people misunderstand this: a budget is something to live by... not a shopping list!

Best of luck for you.
Angi

Thank you for your responses. You have given me something to think about. I would hate for all of our money to go towards something the school district is unwilling to pay for. I would rather use the money for fun things that the kids enjoy. Maybe I should be bringing this issue to the school site council, on which I serve as well.

Thanks,
Kathryn

While helping with school needs is admirable, there is a fine line between providing the extras and becoming a part of the 'educational process.' Once you provide funding for things such as teacher aides, you have set a precedent that may or may not be good. Suppose a bad aide is hired. Does the PTO say, "If we are funding this, we want to have a say in who gets hired next?" We don't belong in that process. It sounds extreme, but look no further than school athletic programs to see that things like that do happen.

I understand districts have a hard time getting by these days. However, we live in a Detroit-area district that has gradually moved from paying for basic supplies (such as toner and paper) to budgeting enough to last for 70 percent of the year. Where do you think they seek the remaining 30 percent from?

Everyone wants to help, I totally understand that. And everyone has different ways of reaching that goal. However, the relationship between parent groups and schools/districts has to remain objective. We can't lose sight of the fact that the districts have to buckle down and take care of the basics. As parents, we have to make districts realize that we are watching closely, to make sure the available monies are spent wisely. But we can't link arms with the educators just because we want to help. They provide a service we pay for, and if it is not up to snuff, it is easier to react appropriately to the board.

I see too many PTOs assuming the role of 'booster club;' that is, believing they are a much-needed financial support system for school basics. Wrong! That's what our taxes are for. We have to provide the extras, and more importantly, support activities that will make our kids want to come to school.

The majority of money raised in our school last year went to...the purchase of new desks. Funny, that's what I thought we paid taxes for. Kids don't remember things like that. They remember the read-ins, the special lunches, the field trips. And those who enjoy school at a younger age will be more apt to get more out of school in their later years.

Sadly, our school's PTO has lost sight of that, and is funding administrators who are circumventing the system. An adversarial relationship keeps the system in balance.

I sympathize with any district that is short of aides...Those are the folks who get no respect.

What our PTO does to get around this is we provide "$X" amount to our schools Treasury each year that is allocated for things such as Learning Materials, training, and in some cases hiring or extra staff or outside services. We vote on the amount to be used and in general what for and the Principle and staff allocate using it and manage that end of it. There is some trust needed to do it this way, but that has not been an issue and we work very closely together.