There Needs to Be Enforced Equity Among PTA's

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Realistically, the fairest thing that has any chance of happening would be for MCCPTA (or some other central organization, I guess, if there's some problem with MCCPTA, although I don't understand what the problem is) to either increase its dues amount significantly (with an exemption for PTAs under a certain budget) and redistribute that to schools based on need, or for school PTAs to contribute some set percentage of their budget to a central pool that's redistributed based on need.

Honestly it really ought to be one central fund countywide, but most parents are too selfish to contribute to something like that and would scream bloody murder at the idea that they can't use their money to contribute to their kid's school to give them an extra leg up. So let them contribute to their own school knowing that, say, half of it will actually benefit the school, while at least having a *little* less of this ridiculous "the richer schools that need the least and are already the most desirable for teachers get lots of extra from their PTAs, and the poorer schools that need the most and are the least desirable for teachers get nothing from their PTAs" situation...

Sorry- you mean like our *tax payer dollars* which are funded county wide?

Truth is that poor schools get more money already (and are also likely in places with older schools that need refurbished). And then they also need more money to make up the gap between what kids bring in and what’s needed.

Well yes, if our schools were funded adequately so that all schools and teachers could afford what they need, then this wouldn't be an issue. But sadly, the people with boatloads of money who donate tons to their kids' schools' PTAs are the same people who whine and shout about the prospect of paying enough in taxes to adequately fund our county schools, so our taxes stay too low and our schools stay underfunded and we end up squabbling over PTA budgets. But I'm with you, if this county was actually willing to invest in education and the schools were already getting what they need, I"d be glad to let this PTA issue go.

But, you can go nowhere and achieve nothing even if you do not let this PTA issue go. You are basically all blather and frothing at the mouth on DCUM, but in real life you are incapable of doing anything because a) your post clearly demonstrates you have zero understanding of how PTA, MCPS and educational funding works and you are clueless b) you are just another outraged victim who does not know why the achievement gap has become the achievement grand canyon and c) you have been socialized and trained to expect charity, alms and handouts - which is not coming your way in this instance.

compassionate conservatism...

[Anonymous]

In what world is a parent Association not a reflection of the quality of parents? It seems like a fools errand to prop up a group that
Can’t or won’t contribute themselves.

[Anonymous]

Oh man, after reading through all of these horrific responses, I'm so glad I work at a Title 1 school. I would HATE to deal with the entitled parents like the ones on this thread. At least the parents I deal with have empathy and compassion.

[Anonymous]

There are REAL charities that I contribute to, so why would I even bother contributing to some other parent's PTA?

I will decide who I contribute funds to, and how much I will contribute; and no, a PTA is not a charity and no, someone else will not decide to which school my PTA funds are sent.

I know that if my PTA dues start going into a central fund, I'll stop contributing altogether.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are REAL charities that I contribute to, so why would I even bother contributing to some other parent's PTA?

I will decide who I contribute funds to, and how much I will contribute; and no, a PTA is not a charity and no, someone else will not decide to which school my PTA funds are sent.

I know that if my PTA dues start going into a central fund, I'll stop contributing altogether.

You sound like fun.

(Just kidding, you sound like a terrible person.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are REAL charities that I contribute to, so why would I even bother contributing to some other parent's PTA?

I will decide who I contribute funds to, and how much I will contribute; and no, a PTA is not a charity and no, someone else will not decide to which school my PTA funds are sent.

I know that if my PTA dues start going into a central fund, I'll stop contributing altogether.

Clearly you're ignorant. Half your PTA dues already go to a central fund - MCCPTA and the State PTA. Guess what- none of those funds go back to the schools.

[Anonymous]

$1 per member goes to MoCo's MCCPTA. Maryland and National PTAs get $4.25 per member.

If you're curious, here's the MCCPTA IRS report from 2018 (the latest I could find):
https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/526070569/12_2019_prefixes_48-54%2F526070569_201906_990EZ_2019122616976328

They have a budget of $40 or $50K a year to advocate for 160K students. That's about the salary of one (experienced) para. Seems a pretty good deal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In what world is a parent Association not a reflection of the quality of parents? It seems like a fools errand to prop up a group that
Can’t or won’t contribute themselves.

Exactly that's why diversity busing is the only viable solution.

[Anonymous]

Here is a non-snarky suggestion for parents who also want to help poorer schools- link your grocery cards to benefit one of those schools. Between giant, Harris Teeter and target our school gets a lot of money from the grocery stores.

This is something everybody can do in their own local communities that is free and doesn’t cost you a cent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In what world is a parent Association not a reflection of the quality of parents? It seems like a fools errand to prop up a group that
Can’t or won’t contribute themselves.

Exactly that's why diversity busing is the only viable solution.

That isn't a viable solution. You can't make rich parents go where they don't want to. All you can do is bus poor kids around. You can create carrot programs where rich, high achievers opt into and agree to be bussed to poorer schools which the county already does with the Magnet. But then the poor schools complain about the good stuff only going to the rich kids and demand they water down the selection requirements to allow poorer kids to access these carrot programs which defeats their original charter. At some point parents of lesser means will have to accept that the county can't endlessly supplement their kids to emulate an affluent upbringing. What next are the middle class parents going to have to pay for the poor kids to take the foreign travel trips in middle and high school, block the rich kids from driving their cars to school because not all the kids can afford them, force the back yard pool parties to invite the band kids? At what point are people responsible for their own arrangements and knowing that equality of outcome isn't a thing in the real world.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:$1 per member goes to MoCo's MCCPTA. Maryland and National PTAs get $4.25 per member.

If you're curious, here's the MCCPTA IRS report from 2018 (the latest I could find):
https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/526070569/12_2019_prefixes_48-54%2F526070569_201906_990EZ_2019122616976328

They have a budget of $40 or $50K a year to advocate for 160K students. That's about the salary of one (experienced) para. Seems a pretty good deal.

That's actually a pretty big budget and sadly, they don't advocate for all and are very exclusionary. Not all schools have a PTA or are welcomed in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In what world is a parent Association not a reflection of the quality of parents? It seems like a fools errand to prop up a group that
Can’t or won’t contribute themselves.

Exactly that's why diversity busing is the only viable solution.

That isn't a viable solution. You can't make rich parents go where they don't want to. All you can do is bus poor kids around. You can create carrot programs where rich, high achievers opt into and agree to be bussed to poorer schools which the county already does with the Magnet. But then the poor schools complain about the good stuff only going to the rich kids and demand they water down the selection requirements to allow poorer kids to access these carrot programs which defeats their original charter. At some point parents of lesser means will have to accept that the county can't endlessly supplement their kids to emulate an affluent upbringing. What next are the middle class parents going to have to pay for the poor kids to take the foreign travel trips in middle and high school, block the rich kids from driving their cars to school because not all the kids can afford them, force the back yard pool parties to invite the band kids? At what point are people responsible for their own arrangements and knowing that equality of outcome isn't a thing in the real world.

Actually, you can by creating fair boundaries that represent actual communities and put an end to the longterm gerrymandering that have created this culture of haves and have nots.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In what world is a parent Association not a reflection of the quality of parents? It seems like a fools errand to prop up a group that
Can’t or won’t contribute themselves.

Exactly that's why diversity busing is the only viable solution.

That isn't a viable solution. You can't make rich parents go where they don't want to. All you can do is bus poor kids around. You can create carrot programs where rich, high achievers opt into and agree to be bussed to poorer schools which the county already does with the Magnet. But then the poor schools complain about the good stuff only going to the rich kids and demand they water down the selection requirements to allow poorer kids to access these carrot programs which defeats their original charter. At some point parents of lesser means will have to accept that the county can't endlessly supplement their kids to emulate an affluent upbringing. What next are the middle class parents going to have to pay for the poor kids to take the foreign travel trips in middle and high school, block the rich kids from driving their cars to school because not all the kids can afford them, force the back yard pool parties to invite the band kids? At what point are people responsible for their own arrangements and knowing that equality of outcome isn't a thing in the real world.

Actually, you can by creating fair boundaries that represent actual communities and put an end to the longterm gerrymandering that have created this culture of haves and have nots.

There is no good way to do it and you assume that the lower income school families WANT to be at the richer schools and want to go to those schools and some of us picked so our kids would not be in those schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$1 per member goes to MoCo's MCCPTA. Maryland and National PTAs get $4.25 per member.

If you're curious, here's the MCCPTA IRS report from 2018 (the latest I could find):
https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/526070569/12_2019_prefixes_48-54%2F526070569_201906_990EZ_2019122616976328

They have a budget of $40 or $50K a year to advocate for 160K students. That's about the salary of one (experienced) para. Seems a pretty good deal.

That's actually a pretty big budget and sadly, they don't advocate for all and are very exclusionary. Not all schools have a PTA or are welcomed in.

No, it's not a big budget for an organization its size. And any school's PTA in MCPS would be part of the MCCPTA as well as the state and national umbrella groups. Whether a school chooses to have a PTA is up to the school parents to organize. A ton of volunteer time is needed; not all schools have parents able or willing to invest that time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In what world is a parent Association not a reflection of the quality of parents? It seems like a fools errand to prop up a group that
Can’t or won’t contribute themselves.

+ 1
Seriously. The parents deserve the PTA they get. They will never fathom that the PTA is merely a reflection of them.