Supplementing the staff salaries is one of the issues I brought forth!!! And I'm not coming across like I am intending to. Once again I also agree that fun should be an assett. I just wish that our group would broaden their horizons.

There is no national platform that non PTA parent groups adhere to. Decisions about what is best for each group is made at the local level based on the needs of the community. However, that doesn't mean that only "fun" things are done. Not that fun is a bad thing. It's a great thing and should be encouraged.

Many parent groups take on very serious tasks as funding is dwindling on local, state and national levels. While we all still strive to help the kids have fun with field trips and assemblies, we also fund major things like libraries, playgrounds, art and science supplies, folders, planners, staff salaries and such. We do quite a bit of serious work.

To answer your question, I would say very, very few groups operate only in the name of FUN. But it's important to keep the fun in everything you do.

I just posted a similar message about PTO's or academic booster clubs? I also felt that there was a standard that PTO's went by. In that I mean I thought there were specific issues that PTO's took on. (NCLB, school security issues, etc.) However, fun, I guess is the bottom line for many PTO's. What I want to know is who doesn't run their PTO only in the name of fun?

Couple of thoughts here, trying to answer a variety of above questions.

As far as structure, the PTA state- and national-level executive board members are elected according to PTA bylaws. It's a very, very small subset of PTA membership that gets involved beyond the local level, but the process is certainly open to any member that wants to get involved.

There's a parallel structure of paid employees hired by the executive leadership. Most states have at least one paid staffer and national has about 80 paid staffers. There's a CEO as well as, for example, a couple of paid lobbyists. Presumably, those lobbyists are hired to represent the positions put forth by the leaders, who are elected by the membership.

Again, I think it's importnat to point out that there are really two very separate issues at play:

1. Does your group think politics should be part of your work? If no, then PTA is obviously not the option for you. It's my opinion that this first question that is the reason why most groups are not PTAs.

2. If the answer to #1 is yes or maybe, then the second question is: Is/are PTA politics and/or PTA structure the right way for us to get involved politically? That's a separate issue.

A lot of the above discussion is focused on question #2 (who makes PTAs positions? am I represented? what if I disagree? etc.), while -- in actuality -- question #1 is typically much more of an issue.

Also agree very, very much with the folks who make the point that deciding not to be a PTA does not mean at all that a group isn't concerned about kids or kids-policies. All PTO leaders and all PTOs work everyday for the betterment of kids. And tons of them also make their voices heard politically. Just not through the PTA.

Tim

How do the PTA head mgmt, and lobbyists, get to be in that position in the first place?

To my knowledge, its not like the parent memebrs (those who choose to pay dues) actually 'vote' the management in, is it?

In other words, if they are not democratically selected, the state and national heads, then it stands to reason they dont necessarily represnt the voice of the majority when they try to push their agendas thru. So that really shouldnt be so surprising it seems to me.

I have been part of PTOs and PTAs, and neither group, did anything outside of the local school sphere...it was all student/school related activities and working at that level...a levelwhere each parent CAN make a difference and see the fruits of their labor.

Shawn;131213 wrote: (What's the last piece of legislation passed due to PTA??)

This is an interesting question. I know at least some of the issues for which National PTA has been lobbying for over the years, and I'm aware that some of them have passed. But have they passed BECAUSE of National's lobbying? What other groups have lobbied for the same thing? How effective is National? I have no idea how to answer that.

National takes all kinds of positions on a variety of broad issues; I think you can see them here without having a membership password: www.pta.org/pr_category_details_1141755338062.html
NCLB seems to be the hot-button of the moment; the text of National's recommendations for parent involvement in relation to NCLB is here:
www.pta.org/documents/03NCLB-rec07.pdf
Personally, I would never get behind some of these recommendations. But no one asked me. And that has always been my beef with National; they make no apparent effort to contact individual members. (And I've been a PTA member for about 8 years now, in multiple schools.)

And while everyone always seems to focus on National, don't forget that you also have all the lobbying going on at a state level. In my state (Virginia), the state PTA passes out a survey every year for members to vote on state legislative issues. So, theoretically, at least they make an effort to find out what their membership wants. In the 4 PTAs I belong to this year, only one did pass out the survey to the members and collect the results and send them on to state. Out of 400+ members in that particular school, 12 returned the survey. In the 2007 packet, one of the items we were asked our opinion on was "VA PTA seeks and supports legislation to create and fund an Office of Children Services Ombudsman for students with special needs in each school division." Ummm, ok--realistically, most parents just don't care about stuff like this. On the other hand, I think that many parents would probably say that, on a high level basis, they're glad someone is paying attention to this kind of stuff and working on it.

We're too busy worried about overcrowded schools, long bus rides, reasonable start times, getting passing scores on state tests, etc.--stuff that is very local and specific to us. ("All politics is local.") And stuff like that usually ends up hitting the newspapers or local bulletin boards and email lists, and people do take action on it when they feel strongly. But not because of any PTA involvement/recommendation; we do it as individuals and caring members of the community. And you can do that as a member of a PTO just as easily as if you were a PTA member. So is a legislator more likely to act on something because he gets 500 individual emails from concerned parents, or one letter from a PTA claiming to speak for every child?

The other thing that's interesting about the VA PTA--you're asked to give your opinion on a handful of broad educational type issues every year, but then the PTA lobbies for various other issues related to children.

For example, last year in Virginia, I got the most emails from the state PTA on an issue regarding crosswalks--we were asked to write letters in support of the crosswalk bill, etc. In its final legislative update for last year's session, state PTA took great pride in the fact that a bill had been passed that amends the statute that now requires motorists to yield the right-of-way to pedestrians to require that motorists stop for pedestrians. Uhhh, ok--thanks Virginia PTA!

Two years ago in Virginia, Virginia PTA 2005 Convention Resolution #4 stated that, Virginia PTA will support legislation to restrict the use of cell phones when driving without the use of a hands-free device. They got someone to sponsor that bill, but it failed. This year, a bill was finally passed that prohibits persons under the age of 18 from using any cellular telephone or any other wireless telecommunications device, regardless of whether such device is, or is not, hand-held, while driving. I'm sure I'll soon receive a memo with VA PTA taking credit for passage of that bill.

I'm not necessarily opposed to either of those two bills that I just listed as examples, but I'm also not so sure that the PTA needs to take up its time and energy on them, either. And every PTA member *should* be aware that it's a lot more than just some broad educational issues for which PTA lobbies, but most members don't pay any attention to the legislative agendas.

This ended up being a very long post with far more rambling than I intended, but it gives those who aren't familiar with PTA lobbying a taste of what is involved. Those who choose not to be part of PTA can get involved with these issues as well, it's just generally done on an individual basis (or through another organization). Depends on how important it is to you.