Yeah, its always good to come into a group with an open mind since you don't know the ins and outs of everything. But, I'm still really unimpressed, shocked, disappointed, etc. When I asked what the point of PTO was they said it was to get parents involved. But, the majority of the money for the year is already allocated to "Teacher Reimbursement". Every full-time teacher gets $125 from PTO a year, and etc. Is this typical?
I know that teachers are having to pay for supplies they didn't used to, but it'd be better to ask parents of the students to supply certain things at the beginning of the year (in my opinion). Even if some families are low-income, everyone can buy a box of Kleenex and some hand soap.
A lot of times these situations have simply evolved to some current state - no teacher involvement, only teachers (rare), principal-controlled, etc. Donna is right, jump in and get involved.
One caution - tread lightly at first. Simply observe and help where you can. Don't try to change anything until you fully understand the situation.
At my first PTO meeting years ago, it seemed the group was run by a tightly controlled clique where 5 or 6 officers planned everything and no general meetings were ever held. This just seemed wrong to me. But actually - after I got involved - I found much of what they were doing was exactly right for our school.
Turns out general meetings never worked at our school. Trying to do so monthly simply meant a lot of work setting up the cafeteria and then only the same 5 or 6 people came (officers). Eventually, we went to communications that kept everyone informed, one general meeting per semester, and general parent involvement in EVENTS. But had I started off complaining about not having monthly general meetings, I would have quickly been proven wrong.
On the other hand, once I was involved I could influence some areas which did need change, such as formalizing their structure, cash controls, etc.
The idea of a parent teacher is to support our schools and students. It appears to me that your local group really needs YOU! You could be a catalyst for more parents to be involved. I guess what I am saying is you need to try to get more parents going to the
PTO meetings. You have no input if your not there.
I went to my very first PTO meeting today, hoping to find out what exactly it was. Found out the board was brand new and all teachers. There have only been teachers involved and no parents for years. They were surprised by the 5 parents that did show up, and etc. This was all gleaned information as we went over finances.
I finally just raised my hand and asked for a mission statement. The response was pure floundering... (they admitted they did not have a mission statement - though they had the entire year planned out)
So here are my questions.
A) What is the point of PTO usually?
What is the point of a PTO group that only has teachers in it? Why is it even there? Is the school not allowed to do their own fundraisers (the majority of the money was being allotted to teachers and what not to help them with supplies)?
What is the point of a PTO group that only has teachers in it? Why is it even there? Is the school not allowed to do their own fundraisers (the majority of the money was being allotted to teachers and what not to help them with supplies)? 
