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By now you’ve probably heard of the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) in your school but do you really know what the PTA does? Have other parents told you it’s not worthwhile to attend the monthly PTA meetings? Do you get the sense that it’s “cliquey” and that all the same parents volunteer for all the events?

My guest this week is Aurelia Williams, host of Parenting My Teen as well as current board member of two different PTAs. We discuss these myths, giving real-life examples of our own PTA experiences and also offering ideas for how parents can get involved in their own PTA groups.

One myth that I somehow forgot to cover is that the PTA is all about fundraising and they always have their hand out. FALSE! The national PTA states that for each fundraiser you hold in a given year, you need to hold at least the same number of “give back” or free events for the school community. Sure, the PTA needs to raise funds each school year for special programs but it’s also about growing as a community.

Be sure to check out the budget of your PTA and find out about every project your PTA funds. You’ll be surprised at how much some programs cost.

For some parent resources from the national PTA, visit PTA Parent Resources.

 

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This week I discuss three news topics that are important to parents of elementary school students across the country.

- Should Teachers Be Allowed to Carry Guns in School? - Would you as a parent feel safer knowing that armed teachers and/or security guards were at your children’s school? Would having armed staff members deter another tragedy from happening? What about a teacher’s right to protect him/herself from physical threat?

- Stealing PTA funds - Does it seem too easy for PTA officers to access the bank accounts? Should PTA officers undergo background checks as a way to prevent theft? Should the national PTA change their rules for accessing bank accounts?

- Creative Teacher Wins Grant - Kudos to Betty Brask of Hawaii for challenging the kids in her class with this awesome-sounding opportunity to learn about science and technology! How can we convince our teachers to think “outside the box” and get creative with their lessons? How can we show our teachers and principals that sitting all day long at a desk will acutally inhibit many children from learning? How do we shake things up and make learning fun?

There’s LOTS to talk about today and I probably could have gone on for a much longer time on each topic. I don’t have answers for these questions, they’re just tossed out to start a discussion and to get parents to think about these topics and how they should be handled if they were to happen in their own school districts. Food for thought!

 

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