This Dallas feature takes an interesting look at Texas state PTA membership and parent volunteering trends in the Lone Star State. Looks like Texas PTA membership is down 200,000 in last 15 years or so at a time when Texas student enrolment is up by 1 million or so. I was surprised to see this, as Texas PTA has traditionally been one of the strongest and most aggressive state PTAs on membership development.

One missing piece from the article is the possibility that the PTA membership decline does not necessarily mean a decline in parent volunteering as a whole. If an existing PTA disbands and becomes a PTO (as has happened quite a bit across the country), PTA membership goes down but parent volunteering does not. Not sure if that's a cause of the Texas numbers per se, but certainly a possibility.

Do think the article captures an interesting phenomenon that I'm sure *is*a factor in Texas. Many immigrant parents do not think of parent involvement in same ways that many long-time citizens may think of as "traditional". That's a definite challenge for all schools and parent groups. Some thoughts on that in this feature story on engaging immigrant parents.

Interested in your thoughts on the Texas PTA membership story as well as your own creative solutions for connecting with multi-cultural parents.