Questionable Fundraising Attitudes of PTA - taking students savings is "cute" ?!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
OP here: The students have collection duties, getting donations from relatives, local bussinesses, etc. Each class has a running total and as collections pass goals the class earns awards like homework passes, extra recess time, ice cream truck visit, and more. Students donating thier savings smacks of buying the awards, not the honorable act of caring/sharing helping those in need.

This is completely inappropriate! Children (elementary aged) should not have "collection" duties. Our school doesn't put pressure on kids to raise funds for anything! Yes, we have class or school wide fundraising for charities, but there aren't any prizes for the class that give the most. Pride comes from giving to a worthy cause that will help other children in need. They are teaching kids an awful lesson there.

Is it possible for you to talk to a few parent friends to see if you can get a group of parents to stand together against this?

OP here: Hah, a bloodless coup! I think few, if any, parents would stand up and point out flaws like this, that would only work with a full-on parent led revolution. Honestly, the PTA are scary. I have been on baords and involved, so this isn't guesswork.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not sure I understand OP. The PTA is asking kids to donate their own money? Why?

Racist. It's all racist. Kids and families in wealthier and white areas will just get evn more resoures.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not sure I understand OP. The PTA is asking kids to donate their own money? Why?

Racist. It's all racist. Kids and families in wealthier and white areas will just get evn more resoures.

OP here: Not racially motivated, but I agree that an racist/elitist divide is evident here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Our school does something similar, asking for a donation in exchange for wearing something special. But the ask was $1, not $100. And they weren't very strict about it. Kids who didn't have a dollar to give or parents who forgot were allowed to wear something special too. It was meant to be fun, not exclusionary.

That sounds like the right way to do something like this if there is a right way. At our school the PTA message was very strict and I think the person who wrote it even put the word "only" in bold as in "only" kids who donate can wear pajamas on Friday. In our case it wasn't cash but supplies but ended up excluding not only people who could not afford to give but working parents who did not have time to go out and buy special toys or whatever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Our school does something similar, asking for a donation in exchange for wearing something special. But the ask was $1, not $100. And they weren't very strict about it. Kids who didn't have a dollar to give or parents who forgot were allowed to wear something special too. It was meant to be fun, not exclusionary.

That sounds like the right way to do something like this if there is a right way. At our school the PTA message was very strict and I think the person who wrote it even put the word "only" in bold as in "only" kids who donate can wear pajamas on Friday. In our case it wasn't cash but supplies but ended up excluding not only people who could not afford to give but working parents who did not have time to go out and buy special toys or whatever.

Any drive or fundraiser that pits classes against each other, or highlights students that "can do" are going to have problems! But theres something really wrong where schools or PTAs have to go to those lengths for supplies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Our school does something similar, asking for a donation in exchange for wearing something special. But the ask was $1, not $100. And they weren't very strict about it. Kids who didn't have a dollar to give or parents who forgot were allowed to wear something special too. It was meant to be fun, not exclusionary.

That sounds like the right way to do something like this if there is a right way. At our school the PTA message was very strict and I think the person who wrote it even put the word "only" in bold as in "only" kids who donate can wear pajamas on Friday. In our case it wasn't cash but supplies but ended up excluding not only people who could not afford to give but working parents who did not have time to go out and buy special toys or whatever.

Any drive or fundraiser that pits classes against each other, or highlights students that "can do" are going to have problems! But theres something really wrong where schools or PTAs have to go to those lengths for supplies.

I'm the one who made the first post above. I'm not defending the PTA at all, but...I do understand why they sometimes use seemingly harsh language when trying to collect something. Some parents (sometimes too many) will gladly take advantage of the situation and not do anything just because they don't feel like it, but they want their child to have the same "benefit" as the other children that actually participated. It's not fair and sends the wrong message to the kids ("It doesn't matter what you do, you'll still get X.") So they try to get full participation from parents by drawing a very hard line.

That said, I think the community spirit in a school makes a big difference in that parents will WANT to participate. Showing a bit of kindness to families that can't contribute would go much further in getting other parents to want to help out than the hard line I see in even our PTA. What makes the difference in our school is the overwhelming number of families that don't want to exclude kids from things, no matter how the PTA feels about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I'm the one who made the first post above. I'm not defending the PTA at all, but...I do understand why they sometimes use seemingly harsh language when trying to collect something. Some parents (sometimes too many) will gladly take advantage of the situation and not do anything just because they don't feel like it, but they want their child to have the same "benefit" as the other children that actually participated. It's not fair and sends the wrong message to the kids ("It doesn't matter what you do, you'll still get X.") So they try to get full participation from parents by drawing a very hard line.

That said, I think the community spirit in a school makes a big difference in that parents will WANT to participate. Showing a bit of kindness to families that can't contribute would go much further in getting other parents to want to help out than the hard line I see in even our PTA. What makes the difference in our school is the overwhelming number of families that don't want to exclude kids from things, no matter how the PTA feels about it.

OP Here: The spirit of volunteering is great at the school, in class, chaperoning, etc.

Volunteering for the PTA is far less popular and it's not the hard line approach to things. I think it's the constant displays (like the taking students money) that the PTA are elitist and egoist rich moms out of touch with reality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I'm the one who made the first post above. I'm not defending the PTA at all, but...I do understand why they sometimes use seemingly harsh language when trying to collect something. Some parents (sometimes too many) will gladly take advantage of the situation and not do anything just because they don't feel like it, but they want their child to have the same "benefit" as the other children that actually participated. It's not fair and sends the wrong message to the kids ("It doesn't matter what you do, you'll still get X.") So they try to get full participation from parents by drawing a very hard line.

That said, I think the community spirit in a school makes a big difference in that parents will WANT to participate. Showing a bit of kindness to families that can't contribute would go much further in getting other parents to want to help out than the hard line I see in even our PTA. What makes the difference in our school is the overwhelming number of families that don't want to exclude kids from things, no matter how the PTA feels about it.

OP Here: The spirit of volunteering is great at the school, in class, chaperoning, etc.

Volunteering for the PTA is far less popular and it's not the hard line approach to things. I think it's the constant displays (like the taking students money) that the PTA are elitist and egoist rich moms out of touch with reality.

Such a stereotype! They're doing something good for the school.

[Anonymous]

What does the pat do with all this money, and does it really benefit anyone?

[Anonymous]

It is not a new thing. They did it for the war effort during WWII.

[Anonymous]

OP, I'm pretty sure I have a kid at your school. I have one there and one at another close-by non-AAP center school so it's been interesting to see the different ways the PTA manages things.

I was also a little taken aback at the "cute" comments about students donating to this fundraiser. I can tell you that the only reason they are is for the "prizes." If my kid asks if they are going to get the blow-up obstacle course one more time I'm going to scream. I donated what I consider a significant amount of funds because I know that almost 100% of the funds go straight to school needs. However, the kids have been repeatedly told over and over that if they "only collect $X more they will win <insert next prize level>. The kids aren't learning about giving to a charitable cause, they are learning that they should receive a prize if they donate.

Also, the 6th grade classes traditionally organize and run many of the annual school events (Halloween fun night, bingo night, etc) as fundraisers for their class activities (major field trips, etc.). I'm seeing this morning on the fb page that the 6th grade class did so well on this recent fundraiser that they have no need to "host" these other events. So, unless other parents want to jump in and scramble to organize these events they won't happen. I think this is awful considering that these kids look forward to these events all year. They already canceled the Halloween fun night.

OP - if this is not the same school my apologies, but I'm pretty certain it is and I agree with you.

[Anonymous]

OP, I totally agree with you. Our ES PTA collected from the kids last year. It was so obnoxious. They converted the previous drives from the kids "Pennies for Patients" that collected from the kids for a charity into "Pennies for Playground" to raise money for our own school's playground! I was a supporter of Pennies for Patients because it was about helping others, not themselves. Pennies for Playground was ridiculous. Asking the kids to donate to the school they attend and help themselves to a better playground. Yuck. I happily donated but do not ask my kids for their money for this purpose.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our FFX Mount Vernon area ES is going through the annual PTA fundraising drive. On the closed FB page for the PTA, the fundraising comittee and the usual accolytes are crowing about how great it is that the students are sending in their own piggybank savings. To me this is so wrong on many levels but, whithout anonaminity, there's not a chance in heck I'll post negatively on the topic there!

The students are supposed to be benefitting, not bankrolling. (Okay. An exageration, but you get the point.)

The fundraising has gone beyond fundraising. This situation is not "cute". To my mind this has crossed a line into predatorial collecting.

Im all for students being involved in fundraising, compassionately donating for a good cause. This collection is not for cancer research, or a third world country needing water, or UCM... it's an affluent-area school PTA with a large operating budget that annualy fundraises $30-50k


I have talked with other parents over the years so I know many other parents have the same misgivings about these vast fundraising efforts, especially students' classes being awarded benfits and treats as they meet fundraising goals.

So, what do y'all think?

I am on our pta board and I hate all that stuff. But the other ladies keep doing it because no one ever says anything except me and maybe one or two parents. When enough parents show up for a meeting and say enough already, then they will be forced to stop.