That sounds like a great idea! Besides teachers I think it will help to get more parents involved, if only for a night, then they might come back again.
Our PTC is going to try something new this year. Normally in the past we have had a teacher rep however, this past year it was hard to keep one teacher rep all year. So this year we are going to spotlight a grade level at each meeting and then the teachers from that grade level are asked to come to that meeting and there will be a period of time that they will discuss what is going on in their classes and we will even go through their classrooms. I have heard positive things about this. That way we are only asking one night from them a school year! I will let you know how this works if you are interested. Our principal actually presented this at a staff meeting and they were all for it! I hope this helps!
I like that response too. I'm not sure how many of our teachers actually use computers and e-mail, but maybe we can give them a memo and cc it to the principal. In the past we've left it up to the principal to let the teachers in on everything the PTA is doing and that hasn't been successful. Maybe this way will work better.
OK, I said I was off this but I thought of a solution to your "problem" that works for our PTO.
We communicate to all teachers / staff thru email. When we (the PTO) have important news, questions, surveys, "reasons for decisions we make"... we send out a message and cc it to the principal. We get back 100% response through this method - it only takes a moment's time to get a feeling of the climate of the staff on PTO issues. The teachers appreciate being included in this mannor and also appreciate our consideration of their time. Everyone knows what's going on and the principal appreciates being kept up on issues. Teachers can access their email account from their classrooms as well as from home and they all check in regularly so messages aren't missed. They also communicate back to us with questions and requests. If you have the technology to save time - this really works!
How many parents are regularly attending weekly staff meetings? They are open to the parents with children attending the school aren't they? Decisions are made at staff meetings concerning our children and what happens in the school - these decisions are much more important to our children's futures than fund raising decisions and carnival discussions. Yes, in a perfect owrld we'd poll everyone for their opinion and share reasons for our decisions - but in reality teachers chose to prioritize how they spend their time. Many are home when we are sitting in PTO meetings working on plans for our children - or - spending time with their children.
How about if we concern ourselves with what more we can do for our children than how to get parents and teachers to attend meetings? Teachers aren't interested in fundraising and PTO decisions - they are concerned with test scores and mandatory state standards and the kids in their classrooms that aren't retaining instruction no matter how they try to reach them. I'll tell you, if my child's teacher had to choose between attending a PTO meeting and planning a lesson to reach those kids that aren't getting it - my choice would be planning for instruction.
If you have one or two teachers showing up, who are sharing information with their co-workers - welcome them with open arms and thank them for giving up even more of their personal time.
OK, I'll get off my soapbox - and not get on again... it's a losing battle and I'd rather spend my time with my girls and Harry Potter! Keep trying to make those teachers attend your meetings...GOOD LUCK!
