I've been promising this story for a long time, and the time is here.
BY THE WAY, BEFORE I START---I'm posting twice tonight, so don't miss the recap of Patrick Henry's win last Friday night below; they're now 4-1, 2-0 in the Colonial District heading into Friday night's showdown with Douglas Freeman.
PTA? PTO? What's the difference? All depends on who you ask.
Here's my story:
My son begins kindergarten at Longdale Elementary School in September 1997. I'm the "stay-at-home-dad" at the time, finishing work on my bachelor's degree in Biblical Studies (Finally!) and caretaking for Robbie and his newly-born baby sister (as pictures on this blog attest, they're not little anymore!)
My first volunteering task at school was being "co-room mother" with my neighbor two doors down, making sure the Christmas....oh, sorry.....HOLIDAY party was done, the treat bags were handed out at special times, etc.
In first grade, my partner moved out of the neighborhood, and I took on being "room mom" on my own, and I survived! Late that year a form arrives home looking for volunteers for the PTA board for the next year. So, what do I do? Sucker fills it out and sends it in. I figure, 1st Vice President, you fill the slate of information or entertainment for the monthly programs, how hard could this be??
The first year was fun, eventful, and I met several people who would become long-time friends. Of course, you know the next step. Alas, I wasn't Dick Cheney, and I became President the next year. Term limits made it so you can only be President for two years, so I served the first year, was re-elected (like, no one else wanted the job, ya know?) and served the second (including dealing with a horrific parental situation, ending several years of bad blood...note I did not end it, but several things did.)
As the second year progressed, I took a harder look at why we were a PTA. I had heard of PTO and began to realize, whether they wanted to admit it or not, the National PTA definitely had (and has) a politically-motivated agenda. Yes, it's true I disagree with their political leanings, which also got me to thinking:
Most people think the way to "volunteer" in their child's school, especially at the elementary level, is by joining PTA. This isn't true, mind you, but PTA's position themselves in schools as the volunteer coordinator. For example, you can volunteer to help the secretaries in the office three hours a week and never become a PTA member.....
So, why should a parent feel compelled (or forced no less)to join an association which will take a portion of their dues and use it to promote political causes diametricly opposed to their views? In fact, especially at the elementary school level, why should there be politics involved at all?
On top of this, we looked at what we, as a local chapter, received from the dues money we sent to the National, State, and County Council of PTA's. Advantages included:
1) Already printed membership cards...
2) Access to an art program sponsored by PTA nationwide called "Reflections"...
3) Group discount on liability insurance....
...and that's about it. At the same time, the National PTO Network (which is not an overseeing group of any local PTO, but merely provides support and networking resources for all parent-teacher groups) sent us copies of their magazine, PTOToday, monthly....even though we were a PTA. I found their magazine to have much more information and many more ideas than "Our Children", the National PTA magazine, which always seemed to gear their articles and ideas around whatever the national "agenda" was at the time. So what if that doesn't apply to your local school??
At Longdale, Reflections was not a very popular program, and, well, membership cards are pretty cheap to print on your own. At the same time, this was a chance to create a truly non-partisan, non-political, parent-teacher group designed first and foremost for the benefit of our kids, at our school, with other designs on reaching out to other communities as well.
One of PTA's biggest defenses against PTO's is the view that PTO's are only "in it" for the kids at their school, and have no power to affect legislation. In hindsight, I look at that view, place it up against their supposed "non-partisan" status, and realize the two cannot live under the same roof. If the PTA, on any level, seeks to lobby (and pays lobbyists) legislation to move a certain way, then inevitably, they will have to cater to one side of the political aisle or the other, based on make-up of the Congress or State Assembly, who's in control party-wise, who are the influential members of that body, etc, etc, etc.....
I've said it publicly; the thought of PTA spending lots of their dues money to pay "lobbyists" just, as a citizen, bothers me, because there is no way you can lobby politically on behalf of every child. It's impossible. If it were, we'd have no two-party system!
Anyway....the year after I finished my two terms, the new President took over, basically disappeared, then resigned, and the first vice-president took over (per the bylaws) and it became her crusade to.....dissolve the PTA and reform the school's group as a PTO. Ironic? What I wanted to see done under my watch was now in progress and I was at home watching the kids while my wife served on the board!
The one aid I gave to PTO in the process was that I agreed to speak on behalf of going PTO at the dissolution meeting in April of '03. According to PTA bylaws, the Board must vote for dissolution, then must give members 30 days notice of a meeting to vote on dissolving the chapter, plus the State/County PTA must be notified and allowed to attend the meeting and have up to 15 minutes to speak to the group as to why they should remain a PTA. The vote also must be 2/3's in favor of dissolving; a simple majority wasn't enough. These are all blanket rules found in every PTA's Bylaws in the USA.
So, the Board followed the rules, and I was asked to represent "PTO" at the meeting, which I did. The PTA brought two or three members from County Council. They were feisty; one was downright rude.
The vote was unanimous, and the PTA dissolved. The PTO was born.
Fast forward to last fall. Guess who was asked to be the first PTO President?? Due to my physical and depression issues, I said I would only if I had a strong first vice-president to whom I could delegate things. Early in the year, knowing part of our school would be rezoned to a new school, I wrote the Superintendent simply asking that there be a meeting of the future school's parents decided whether we would form as a PTA or a PTO, as both organizations were represented in this "blending" of populations into a new school.
I never heard back from him. His spokeswoman later responded, then it was a non-issue until the new principal was named and we took the issue to her. She was very open to allowing the parents decide and eventually wanted to wait until school opened in September so Greenwood's new family could decide in Greenwood's facility what Greenwood wanted to do.
What I didn't know was the County Council of PTA's basically spent the summer badgering the Principal into "going ahead and starting the PTA anyway". Well, September comes and the meeting night is set.
It was real simple; have a forum and let the parents decide. I had already told the teachers who transferred from Longdale to Greenwood last spring that we would be volunteers, helping our new school, whether it was a PTA or PTO. The kids came first. But if there's a way to do it, especially at the primary level, where everyone feels invited and the first focus is on the kids at our school, then I think that point of view needs to be represented.
So, we met. The PTA had its County Council President, two other officials (including the rude one from last year's event at Longdale), and a long-time PTA volunteer from the other major elementary school involved in the rezoning.
The rules were, each group speak 15 minutes, then open the floor for questions, then ballot voting. Parents who could not make the meeting were allowed to vote absentee through the office until 830am the next morning. I had no problem with the format, made by the Principal, while the PTA reps had lots of problems. More about that later.....
Well, our principal left the cafeteria and went to watch the kids that had to come with their parents (like ours) 'cuz they are not old enough to stay home by themselves. Imagine that, the principal volunteered on her own to be the "day-care". How cool!!!!
Only problem was, she wasn't in the meeting to make sure people adhered to the time limits. Why time limits? Because Boy Scouts had a meeting schedule to begin in the cafeteria at 7pm.
My wife noticed the problem, went and got the Principal, took over the daycare, and she came back to the meeting. A Q and A had already begun, though it wasn't supposed to until after both presentations. I sat quietly, not making any protest, biding my time.
She ended the proceedings, noting the time, and the fact that PTO needed their presentation time. PTO was represented by....well...just me. I spoke on the positives of independence, autonomy, money saved, and how many resources were available in many ways that one has to pay the PTA dues in order to receive. I also touched upon the political leanings of PTA and made the argument that any group like that should be non-political, period, and that as a PTA, your bylaws must be approved by the higher-ups (aka the State PTA), so what if they nixed something that would benefit your school?
Several questions afterwards, then the fun began. One question was about dues, since most of a PTA Chapter's dues money is sent to the State and National PTA offices. I noted that some PTO's have no dues at all in order to encourage as much membership as possible. One other parent asked my view after being President in both groups as to which way to go, so I did.
The ballots were given, some PTA officials complained that people got to vote via absentee. The defense was, essentially, how can people vote if they don't know the issue? I hate to upset her, but millions of Americans will be doing just that November 2nd, but anyway....
PTA demanded to be at the vote-count the next morning, so my wife has to go to work late in order to "represent" PTO. They basically "took over" the counting process (funny, I don't remember anyone letting George Bush or Al Gore count votes in Florida 4 years ago), but in the end, the vote was PTO.
Then, the next reality. Oh dear, how do we get this started? I really have little or no desire to serve in an official capacity this year, with continuing personal issues (physical, etc) and the workload at the radio station being two major reasons. Suddenly Bonnie and I find ourselves "the face" of PTO.
Happy to report we announced a volunteer meeting for last week, a "formation committee" was begun to draft bylaws, submit tax forms, set up the positions of the Executive Board, and prepare the PTO to have its first meeting and elections. At the same time, there are also temporary committees handling recruiting volunteers, recruiting members, and starting the dreaded fund-raising.
We all come back together on 10/21 to see where we are, and I hope we can elect a board and get things really rolling no later than November 10th, or around the time Bush and Kerry are fighting to personally count votes in Broward County, Florida.
Let this be known: I KNOW there are thousands upon thousands of wonderful, hard-working, concerned parents across America who work to better their child's school through their local PTA. It is not them that I disagree with. It's the elitist attitude of the "organizations", the "hierachies" of the National, State, and County Councils of PTA's, that claim to speak for all children, when they do not, who will go on "educational tours" with Tipper Gore while the 2nd Lady, and the year before her husband's Presidential campaign (I'm still waiting for the Laura Bush tour to commence, and, oh, by the way, she's an educator!!), and who will, as was the case a few weeks ago, partner with several groups, including MOVEON.ORG, to sponsor a "make our schools a success" campaign. If I'm "non-partisan", I don't partner with MoveOn.org any quicker than I'd partner with Concerned Women For America.
It's them I stand against, for I've learned by dealing with their local representatives that I truly believe they've lost touch with why they started volunteering in the first place, and they're now more worried about protecting an association (PTA), and thus helping the kids is a secondary thought. The reason I say this is simple: if I were so pro-PTA, and I heard a school wanted to form as a PTO because it was best for their kids, if I really was "kids first", I'd support them, even though they wouldn't join "my group". Same thing as when I told people last spring I'd volunteer at the new school no matter what the acronym. The kids come first.
But boy do we disagree on the way it's organized.
If you're a school volunteer, the best way to get lots of information is through PTOToday.com.
Yes, it's true it will slant "pro-PTO", but they do welcome all volunteers of all groups of any acronym. Trust me, the National PTA website, pta.org, will not be as willing to help PTO's. In fact, they'll tell you why not to be a PTO.
See?? I told you it was an "interesting" story.....
Same thing is happening nationwide, even right now in Maryland (You may have to "register" to see the article).
Well, now, it's off to beddy-bye. After a nice day off with family, it's time to focus on doing five days' worth of radio work in four days. Being that it's taking 50-60 hours a week right now, the next four days seem rather bleak, don't they???
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