Is it True that PTA Membership dues helps pay insurance and Grants?

1/17/07 | self

[ruthles]

How is the PTA Membership really helping our schools other than supporting their liberal agendas?

[cmsgop]

Uh, Harper Valley ???

[Bogeygolfer]

What is this? Hello? PTA's have liberal agendas in areas where liberals live. PTA's have conservative agendas in areas where conservatives live. The state levels are perhaps more liberal than the locals. That said the work happens locally. They raise money for teachers, teaching assistants, various programs, school lunches, etc. They generally do a world of good, much like churches and charities do similar good work.

[dinoparty]

Just because the education establishment is liberal, it doesn't mean the local teachers in the trenches don't deserve health insurance or grants to buy teaching supplies.

[PAR35]

How is the PTA Membership really helping our schools other than supporting their liberal agendas?

Paying for field trips, benches for the playground area, playground equipment. Or would you rather stick the taxpayers with those bills?

[ruthles]

Do these funds come from the fundraisers or do they come from the national organization of PTA? How much of the membership dues go to the school, the state, and the national organization? What precisely does the National PTA provide?

[pandoraou812]

I belong to the PTA. I joined it because I wanted to be more informed and involved with my daughter's school. The PTA does many different things. They raise money with fund raisers to pay for things like theater groups to come to the school. There is the sunshine fund for sick teachers and children. We have a fund for trips, pizza parties when a class reads so many books etc. We have a fund to pay for children who can't afford to pay for their class trips. We buy things that the school wouldn't normally get. We also have a fund for children that need coats or if they lose their house in a fire or something, we will help the family out.... It costs me $2.50 a year for dues. I don't always agree with some of the ideas for fund raisers I am more outspoken then most. I also got elected to sit in on the board of education meetings. Thats a few hours meeting and I always leave there angry when I see where the money goes. I tend to speak my mind and I am sure they will be happy next year when I am gone from those meetings.

[LibFreeOrDie]

http://www.pta.org/ap_faq.html

[Bogeygolfer]

The dues go up in exchange for basic services (and political garbage) but they are incidental. As you can imagine I can't stand our state PTA being that I live in CA however our fund raising stays home. We raise something over 200K a year for a small elementary school and it pays for actual salaries, programs, etc. You may not be familiar with CA but the more successful a school is the less state money they get. We can't afford a PE teacher and don't have many basic programs. The community provides or it doesn't get done. I'm sure most PTA's aren't burdened by the same need as we are but what they do provide is very much needed, be it lunch programs or field trips and on up to teachers. I also get frustrated with our local PTA politics (this is CA after all) but I'm not sure you could put together a group of people that large and not have politics of every sort. Our solution is to be heavily involved and do the best we can to influence the process.

[too much time]

PTO's are independent and locally controlled, keeping any fundraising money or dues close to home. Whereas a large portion of PTA monies are sent to the national PTA and are often used to subsidize groups like PFLA (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) and various other liberal causes (and teachers unions). I hope these links work re: pto's.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43260-2004Oct18.html http://www.educationpolicy.org/files/PTAkaput.htm Article about PTA and PFLA:
http://www.renewamerica.us/columns/zeiger/040624

[JSteff]

"Just because the education establishment is liberal, it doesn't mean the local teachers in the trenches don't deserve health insurance or grants to buy teaching supplies."

Just in case your local school district is not in the U.S.A.--- NO teachers are going without health insurance or teaching supplies. Their average income is above the norm for the average worker in the areas they teach.

So, please provide documentation and links to support your statement that this is happening.

[JSteff]

"We can't afford a PE teacher and don't have many basic programs. The community provides or it doesn't get done"

Uhmm just out of curiosity who is supposed to provide for and support the education of the communities children?

Aren't the children of a community the responsibility of the community the live in? Is someone else responsible? Should someone else be responsible???????????

Hmmmmmm

[dinoparty]

Documentation of what? The title of the thread implies that PTA money might (heaven forbid!) be going toward insurance, so I was simply responding to that. As for teaching supplies, it is a simple fact that teachers often pay out of their income to buy needed teaching supplies...unless somebody like the PTA picks up the tab.

[dinoparty]

LOL, methinks JSteff has a chip on her shoulder.