There Needs to Be Enforced Equity Among PTA's

[Anonymous]

Schools in wealthy areas simply will get massive amounts more of funding from parents. The MCCPTA potentially could require that PTAs raising over a certain amount donate x percent to a fund that could go to schools raising below a certain amount - basically like paying tax. If done right, it might make wealthy PTAs feel good about themselves for helping those ‘poor schools’ while still allowing them to raise plenty to fund whatever they desire.

[Anonymous]

Many schools in wealthy areas already have sister schools they are supporting - some of which has been arranged/helped by MCCPTA. If you are in a wealthy school and want to arrange this, or, if you are a school in need of a wealthy sister school, have your MCCPTA rep reach out to MCCPTA and ask about this - it is easy enough to make happen.

[Anonymous]

The OP is insanely jealous.

[Anonymous]

Those funds from parents are donation, not tax.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Schools in wealthy areas simply will get massive amounts more of funding from parents. The MCCPTA potentially could require that PTAs raising over a certain amount donate x percent to a fund that could go to schools raising below a certain amount - basically like paying tax. If done right, it might make wealthy PTAs feel good about themselves for helping those ‘poor schools’ while still allowing them to raise plenty to fund whatever they desire.

This isn’t going to be “done right.” It’s just another socialist wet dream that would lead more people to pull their kids out of a declining public school system and send them to private schools not subject to such nonsense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When my kid was little, there was no tutor. It was me and a book at night, or a phone app/game.

Yes, there are special opportunities if you have all the money in the world. Yes, life isn't fair. But either play the lottery or go work 10x harder finding your kid resources. And it's not like it's difficult. MCPS is advertising weekend tutoring, afterschool tutoring, free programs all the time. If you're kid isn't doing them, don't blame the school, don't blame the teachers, or the other parents.

Point the finger at yourself, because expending all your energy whining on this website ain't gonna do much.

I work two low-wage jobs just to provide and can't arrange for these things on my own. People with privilege just don't get it.

You had access to birth control and you could have decided not to have children. You have to own your choices, dear! People with privilege are very clear-eyed about the big picture so don't blame them.

I'm sorry I just wanted to take a moment to laugh at the clear - eyed, big-picture dude who's so insecure about his status he's spouting this nonsense about his kid's pta.


I mean, let's face it. He's totally a dude.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The OP is insanely jealous.

Insanely jealous of what? You should be grateful teachers are at title 1 schools and focus schools under those conditions. You sound supremely immature and clueless. Nuanced and critical thinking doesn’t seem to be your forte. Not surprising in this county.

[Anonymous]

I’m a teacher in a wealthy school and all of these response by the majority of parents are appalling. I cannot wait to submit my resignation in May. Neither can plenty of other teachers I know. The parents in this god forsaken county make it soo easy. I’ve moved a few times and always felt guilty every time I’ve left a district due to a move. Not this time. I’m celebrating. I’m not moving. I’m staying here this time, but leaving the profession altogether. Mostly because of the parents. Keep acting this way and there will be no one left….or you’ll have college students teaching your kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Np here who was involved in a high-FARMs school’s PTA.
I want to correct the notion that these PTAs are struggling because the families are poor. To be sure, the families don’t have huge amounts of disposable income to donate to their local PTA, but that isn’t the root of the matter, IMO.

Many kids in these schools have parents who weren’t born in the US, and did not have anything like a PTA in their own childhood. (My friend whose parents were immigrant engineers —and heavily invested in their kids’ academic success—said that this was the case for her parents back in the 70s, too.) The PTAs (including local and state/national) also do very little, if anything, to explain to these new-American families why the PTA is something they should care about or join. It’s an American “institution”, if you will, which is why US-raised parents join their PTAs when their kids start school.
So PTAs suffer from a lack of buy-in/membership.

What you need to do is have some activities that would be of interest, that requires PTA membership to participate.
For example, if these foreign families are Asian, have a math club/MOEMS or if there is someone willing to put in a lot of work Odyssey of the Mind. This would be a good fundraiser as well.
Then once you have the memberships, you can advertise more events and people will be more knowledgeable about PTA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our PTA has minimal involvement. It's a high farms school and the meeting times are hard for many families. Also, I get the sense that the principal is hard to work with and she and the staff dominate the meetings. There are not enough interested people to run and I also get the sense that it was never a priority of the principal because zero flyers have been sent home, we get a link to the meeting very last minute, etc. At the start of last year, over 80 people joined in on the initial meeting but because there was no organization and most of the positions were unfilled from last year, at the next meeting only 20 attended and by the next one there were maybe 12 with most of that being staff members.

Communication with families is a huge issue. We cannot communicate without the school sending emails/text and often it doesn't get done nor does anything get advertised so even though several people are trying, it normally is pretty low attendance. Ours is mostly staff too.

Why can't you just set up a registration list and send the e-mails yourself?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The OP is insanely jealous.

+1000. People are free to donate money to whoever they please. This isn't communism.

[Anonymous]

Please look at state/national PTA bylaws, there are MANY and they are extensive. I am a first year PTA treasurer and it’s intense! All monies must go to benefit all children etc many many rules on how PTA monies can be spent.

Sponsoring a sister school is the best way to promote equity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please look at state/national PTA bylaws, there are MANY and they are extensive. I am a first year PTA treasurer and it’s intense! All monies must go to benefit all children etc many many rules on how PTA monies can be spent.

Sponsoring a sister school is the best way to promote equity.

Why not directly promote equity through an equal redistribution?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please look at state/national PTA bylaws, there are MANY and they are extensive. I am a first year PTA treasurer and it’s intense! All monies must go to benefit all children etc many many rules on how PTA monies can be spent.

Sponsoring a sister school is the best way to promote equity.

Why not directly promote equity through an equal redistribution?

Have you ever worked with your PTA trying to recruit members and get donations? Not an easy task. The carrot is that people are donating to make their school better. Frankly, it’s not PTA fundings that make schools unequal. The wealthier schools have private foundations not strapped by PTA bylaws.

The whole of MCPS benefits because MCPS decreases funding at wealthier schools because of the private donations. This has created a dependency by the school system to not rock the boat or the free donations might dry up.

[Anonymous]

This! We have trouble getting people to even attend meetings. We have a Spanish interpreter, do the meetings virtually (and used to offer free childcare when in person). Everyone is happy to attend the actual events but no one wants to volunteer to do set up or bring things in because of money and time. Myself, I don't mind donating to events and give of my time to set up and help but I don't have the time to sort through all the PTA bylaws especially when there is no one "seasoned" to help us and we also wouldn't have enough people to form a PTA because you need certain key positions filled in order to be considered an actual PTA.

Anonymous wrote:Please look at state/national PTA bylaws, there are MANY and they are extensive. I am a first year PTA treasurer and it’s intense! All monies must go to benefit all children etc many many rules on how PTA monies can be spent.

Sponsoring a sister school is the best way to promote equity.