How much does your school's PTA raise?

[Anonymous]

^^how can you be angry that parents have fundraisers? that makes no sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Those who are part of a PTA that raises lots of money, please share your secret.

Lots of rich parents.

A friend whose kids are at one of the JKM schools told me that the fundraising is handled by a professional fundraiser (for a major charity, don't remember which one) who happens to also be a parent at the school. There is a "voluntary" $1500 contribution that they are strong armed to give and most parents do so.

And we wonder why there is such a divide in education here in DC.

I think the situation is a little more complicated. Title 1 schools in DC get much more money than non Title 1 schools, so troubled schools do not necessary get less money, they may have actually get more, even counting the PTA money.

we are at a JKLM school, the foundaising is organized, totally for free, by extremely dedicated parents who, in most cases, juggle family, a full time job, and the PTA activities. many more parents, me included, give their time as the "workforce" for fundraising activities. the foundasing goal is $350 per child and nobody is strong armed to give, parents get a letter and one or two reminders, by mail, and nothing else. the amount is set knowing very well that there are families that cannot donate anything. there are families that donate more, and all kids benefit from the money raised (sometimes even kids who are not at the school - the current playground was completely redone 4 years ago with PTA money, and it is open after school and on weekends to everybody. the money is spent to support school activities and salaries of some staff members (I suspect that the reference to PTA salaries at Janney refers to school staff members whose salaries are covered by the PTA - I am not at that school so I di not have direct experience).

I'm the PP, the school in question is Mann and my friend made it very clear that this "voluntary" donation was expected and that the pressure to contribute -- at that very high level -- was almost impossible to avoid.

Your quote says more about your friend than it does about Mann. 68% of Mann parents have pledged to the school.

[Anonymous]

The "other people can't have nice things" have taken their arguments to a whole new level here. We're talking about private, voluntary contributions. Contributions that have managed to keep the schools afloat while DCPS let them languish and rot. Contributions that have salvaged a semblance of a passable eduction despite DCPS. Contributions that have freed tremendous resources for other schools.

And this is what you want to prevent? You are truly a ideological idiot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The WOTP schools get less $$ per kid than title I schools. They do benefit from economies of scale because they are full, but they do not raise as much as the difference in funds. These funds do give the schools significant flexibility in that a principal can use her budget to hire more staff because the PTA can pick up administrative costs such as supplies.

We probably give about $2000/year to our WOTP elementary (flat out checks, bidding at the auction, money spent at other fundraisers), we are not rich but we used to be in private daycare and preschool so we built this in as an expense when we dropped that cost because we want to do what we can to help make our children's education as much as we can. We have two kids.

Even though some EOTP schools get additional title I funds, that nowhere near comes close to the fundraising the PTAs like Janney fundraise. And of course, the title I funds come because you have some extreme poverty in the schools, so they are desperately in need of additional funds.

And of course this is not about who gets/deserves more and where it comes from, right? but that schools are different and some of their funding sources are different.

Disagree. It is ABSOLUTELY about who gets and deserves more. It is resolutely unfair that kids who go to PUBLIC schools in certain parts of the city benefit from additional funding just because there are rich parents at their school. There should be a level playing field in terms of who gets services in public schools, when some well funded PTAs have budgets that compare favorably with large schools in themselves and are able to fund entire staff positions there is something very wrong with the picture.

I do not understand what your solution would be. I am the Murch parent who wrote about the auction. the PTA money funds staff positions that benefit all kids at the school, IB and OOB, if anything DCPS has more money to help other schools. I agree that all kids should have services in DCPS and not only schools where parents pay out of pocket for them. but I don't think it is just a matter of money. how much money per pupil does a DCPS elementary school get? how much money per pupil a Title 1 school get? I do not know exactly, maybe we should look at the numbers before deciding what to do. in cases of schools with extreme poverty, just throwing more money may not be the answer. there must be a net a social services too, extra-hours of instructions, maybe year around instructions. you cannot have the same solutions for kids who come from very disfunctional families. look at the case of Relisha Rudd, and how she lived her short life (I think about her becuase she had the same age as my child, and such a different life). having $300K in PTA money at Paynes would not have changed her life I believe

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Those who are part of a PTA that raises lots of money, please share your secret.

Lots of rich parents.

A friend whose kids are at one of the JKM schools told me that the fundraising is handled by a professional fundraiser (for a major charity, don't remember which one) who happens to also be a parent at the school. There is a "voluntary" $1500 contribution that they are strong armed to give and most parents do so.

And we wonder why there is such a divide in education here in DC.

I think the situation is a little more complicated. Title 1 schools in DC get much more money than non Title 1 schools, so troubled schools do not necessary get less money, they may have actually get more, even counting the PTA money.

we are at a JKLM school, the foundaising is organized, totally for free, by extremely dedicated parents who, in most cases, juggle family, a full time job, and the PTA activities. many more parents, me included, give their time as the "workforce" for fundraising activities. the foundasing goal is $350 per child and nobody is strong armed to give, parents get a letter and one or two reminders, by mail, and nothing else. the amount is set knowing very well that there are families that cannot donate anything. there are families that donate more, and all kids benefit from the money raised (sometimes even kids who are not at the school - the current playground was completely redone 4 years ago with PTA money, and it is open after school and on weekends to everybody. the money is spent to support school activities and salaries of some staff members (I suspect that the reference to PTA salaries at Janney refers to school staff members whose salaries are covered by the PTA - I am not at that school so I di not have direct experience).

I'm the PP, the school in question is Mann and my friend made it very clear that this "voluntary" donation was expected and that the pressure to contribute -- at that very high level -- was almost impossible to avoid.

Your quote says more about your friend than it does about Mann. 68% of Mann parents have pledged to the school.

Bullshit. Fundraising at Mann is organized by the parents. The donation is voluntary. No pressure to contribute . Some families contribute for thousands of dollars, some families contribute with time, i.e. help with the class art projects for the auction, help for the organization and volunteer time at the "summer bash" . Some families do contribute at all, and yet they are still served with the best educational offer the school can offer, with no discrimination.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Those who are part of a PTA that raises lots of money, please share your secret.

Lots of rich parents.

A friend whose kids are at one of the JKM schools told me that the fundraising is handled by a professional fundraiser (for a major charity, don't remember which one) who happens to also be a parent at the school. There is a "voluntary" $1500 contribution that they are strong armed to give and most parents do so.

And we wonder why there is such a divide in education here in DC.

I think the situation is a little more complicated. Title 1 schools in DC get much more money than non Title 1 schools, so troubled schools do not necessary get less money, they may have actually get more, even counting the PTA money.

we are at a JKLM school, the foundaising is organized, totally for free, by extremely dedicated parents who, in most cases, juggle family, a full time job, and the PTA activities. many more parents, me included, give their time as the "workforce" for fundraising activities. the foundasing goal is $350 per child and nobody is strong armed to give, parents get a letter and one or two reminders, by mail, and nothing else. the amount is set knowing very well that there are families that cannot donate anything. there are families that donate more, and all kids benefit from the money raised (sometimes even kids who are not at the school - the current playground was completely redone 4 years ago with PTA money, and it is open after school and on weekends to everybody. the money is spent to support school activities and salaries of some staff members (I suspect that the reference to PTA salaries at Janney refers to school staff members whose salaries are covered by the PTA - I am not at that school so I di not have direct experience).

I'm the PP, the school in question is Mann and my friend made it very clear that this "voluntary" donation was expected and that the pressure to contribute -- at that very high level -- was almost impossible to avoid.

Your quote says more about your friend than it does about Mann. 68% of Mann parents have pledged to the school.

And many of them felt pushed to contribute more than they could afford.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The "other people can't have nice things" have taken their arguments to a whole new level here. We're talking about private, voluntary contributions. Contributions that have managed to keep the schools afloat while DCPS let them languish and rot. Contributions that have salvaged a semblance of a passable eduction despite DCPS. Contributions that have freed tremendous resources for other schools.

And this is what you want to prevent? You are truly a ideological idiot.

No, I want a level playing field for all schools regardless of the race or socio economic background of the students. It's quite simple.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Those who are part of a PTA that raises lots of money, please share your secret.

Lots of rich parents.

A friend whose kids are at one of the JKM schools told me that the fundraising is handled by a professional fundraiser (for a major charity, don't remember which one) who happens to also be a parent at the school. There is a "voluntary" $1500 contribution that they are strong armed to give and most parents do so.

And we wonder why there is such a divide in education here in DC.

I think the situation is a little more complicated. Title 1 schools in DC get much more money than non Title 1 schools, so troubled schools do not necessary get less money, they may have actually get more, even counting the PTA money.

we are at a JKLM school, the foundaising is organized, totally for free, by extremely dedicated parents who, in most cases, juggle family, a full time job, and the PTA activities. many more parents, me included, give their time as the "workforce" for fundraising activities. the foundasing goal is $350 per child and nobody is strong armed to give, parents get a letter and one or two reminders, by mail, and nothing else. the amount is set knowing very well that there are families that cannot donate anything. there are families that donate more, and all kids benefit from the money raised (sometimes even kids who are not at the school - the current playground was completely redone 4 years ago with PTA money, and it is open after school and on weekends to everybody. the money is spent to support school activities and salaries of some staff members (I suspect that the reference to PTA salaries at Janney refers to school staff members whose salaries are covered by the PTA - I am not at that school so I di not have direct experience).

I'm the PP, the school in question is Mann and my friend made it very clear that this "voluntary" donation was expected and that the pressure to contribute -- at that very high level -- was almost impossible to avoid.

Your quote says more about your friend than it does about Mann. 68% of Mann parents have pledged to the school.

Bullshit. Fundraising at Mann is organized by the parents. The donation is voluntary. No pressure to contribute . Some families contribute for thousands of dollars, some families contribute with time, i.e. help with the class art projects for the auction, help for the organization and volunteer time at the "summer bash" . Some families do contribute at all, and yet they are still served with the best educational offer the school can offer, with no discrimination.

Definitely not how all parents see it. I speak from experience.

[Anonymous]

It makes well off parents feel good that they work hard to fundraise for their kids. That way they know they are doing their best, even if they are sending their kids to a public school. Plus it can be turned around into a tax break. No you don't want to think about it as being part of the divide that exacerbates those who have advantage and those who don't, we all help are children right? Those other kids get all those extra title one funds right?

It is the lie we tell our selves about why our kids deserve more than the poor kid on the other side of the river. It is what preserves social privilege. Yeah, I am ranting against it right now but I have also participated in it, we fled the title one school once we could get in a ward three school with large auctions and significant requests for parental contributions.

At the very minimum it would be helpful if we quit telling ourselves that that kid is actually getting more, he is not, he will most likely never have as much opportunity as our children. As long as it is about our children, he is on the outside and sorry life turned out that way. Lots of other things that can be done to counter that outcome, but at the very least don't lie about your privilege.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The "other people can't have nice things" have taken their arguments to a whole new level here. We're talking about private, voluntary contributions. Contributions that have managed to keep the schools afloat while DCPS let them languish and rot. Contributions that have salvaged a semblance of a passable eduction despite DCPS. Contributions that have freed tremendous resources for other schools.

And this is what you want to prevent? You are truly a ideological idiot.

No, I want a level playing field for all schools regardless of the race or socio economic background of the students. It's quite simple.

but what does that mean? I think we all agree that kids are entitled to a great education regardless of their race or socio-economic back ground (and is mainly the second, because kids from middle class and upper middle class families do not have any problems), but what are you proposing? forbidding parents from raising money to cover expenses DCPD does not cover? giving schools with poor kids more money? is that going to be enough? based on the 2015 budget, Murch, with 680 students, has a budget of $6.3Million, while Payne, a Title 1 school with only 279 students, has a budget of over $4Million. as you can see, Murch gets significantly less money than Payne per pupil, having sognificantly more than twice as much students and getting only about 50% more than Payne. and, BTW, the money raised by the Murch PTA is just a minimal fraction of the budget. so poor schools already get more. should they get even more? should the money used differently? should there be additional services, outside of DCPS, to support struggling families?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

And many of them felt pushed to contribute more than they could afford.

So, after conceding -- in the face of quantitative data -- that the "virtually impossible" to avoid contribution avoided by more than 30% of the families, you're claiming that the 70% of parents that did contribute -- mostly anonymously -- paid more than they could afford? Jesus.

Do you realize how baseless your claims are? Not only are they factually and substantively false, they are hearsay. Admit that you know nothing, let alone personally, and move on.

--Signed, not a Mann parent

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It makes well off parents feel good that they work hard to fundraise for their kids. That way they know they are doing their best, even if they are sending their kids to a public school. Plus it can be turned around into a tax break. No you don't want to think about it as being part of the divide that exacerbates those who have advantage and those who don't, we all help are children right? Those other kids get all those extra title one funds right?

It is the lie we tell our selves about why our kids deserve more than the poor kid on the other side of the river. It is what preserves social privilege. Yeah, I am ranting against it right now but I have also participated in it, we fled the title one school once we could get in a ward three school with large auctions and significant requests for parental contributions.

At the very minimum it would be helpful if we quit telling ourselves that that kid is actually getting more, he is not, he will most likely never have as much opportunity as our children. As long as it is about our children, he is on the outside and sorry life turned out that way. Lots of other things that can be done to counter that outcome, but at the very least don't lie about your privilege.

I still do not understand what you mean. nobody here says that our kids deserve more than the poor kids on the other side of the river. you started ranting about school fundaisers and said that kids in poor schools get less money once the PTA money is counted. this is not true and the Murch -Payne exampled above simply demonstrates it. Payne gets way more money per pupil and the PTA money at Murch is only a fraction of the school budget. kids from stable, middle class, educated families are luckier and do better than kids from uneducated, poor single parents? yes, this is obvious. what can we do to help these kids? since apparently just giving more money to the schools is not working that well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Those who are part of a PTA that raises lots of money, please share your secret.

Lots of rich parents.

A friend whose kids are at one of the JKM schools told me that the fundraising is handled by a professional fundraiser (for a major charity, don't remember which one) who happens to also be a parent at the school. There is a "voluntary" $1500 contribution that they are strong armed to give and most parents do so.

And we wonder why there is such a divide in education here in DC.

I think the situation is a little more complicated. Title 1 schools in DC get much more money than non Title 1 schools, so troubled schools do not necessary get less money, they may have actually get more, even counting the PTA money.

we are at a JKLM school, the foundaising is organized, totally for free, by extremely dedicated parents who, in most cases, juggle family, a full time job, and the PTA activities. many more parents, me included, give their time as the "workforce" for fundraising activities. the foundasing goal is $350 per child and nobody is strong armed to give, parents get a letter and one or two reminders, by mail, and nothing else. the amount is set knowing very well that there are families that cannot donate anything. there are families that donate more, and all kids benefit from the money raised (sometimes even kids who are not at the school - the current playground was completely redone 4 years ago with PTA money, and it is open after school and on weekends to everybody. the money is spent to support school activities and salaries of some staff members (I suspect that the reference to PTA salaries at Janney refers to school staff members whose salaries are covered by the PTA - I am not at that school so I di not have direct experience).

I'm the PP, the school in question is Mann and my friend made it very clear that this "voluntary" donation was expected and that the pressure to contribute -- at that very high level -- was almost impossible to avoid.

Your quote says more about your friend than it does about Mann. 68% of Mann parents have pledged to the school.

Bullshit. Fundraising at Mann is organized by the parents. The donation is voluntary. No pressure to contribute . Some families contribute for thousands of dollars, some families contribute with time, i.e. help with the class art projects for the auction, help for the organization and volunteer time at the "summer bash" . Some families do contribute at all, and yet they are still served with the best educational offer the school can offer, with no discrimination.

Definitely not how all parents see it. I speak from experience.

Some parents who do not contribute feel they are free-riding from others' contribution. Well, if they are well-off and do not contribute with a few hundred bucks, that's how they should feel (I know families who make $150,000+ a year and do not contribute a single dollar or a single hour). If they do not have the means, I hope they do not transmit this sense of pressure to their kids. I know that no kid has ever been pressured or made uncomfortable, not to mention discrimination, due to parents' lack of PTA contribution.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not when you add in the fundraising that other schools do. And they need much more than they get.

are you arguing schools should not be allowed to do private fundraising? not really following. i don't think you can prohibit families from fundraising for their schools. would you rather diminish family involvement with schools?

No, but to say that title 1 schools have more $ is missing the private fundraising. And title 1 schools definitely need more money, given the populations they are working with.

[Anonymous]

The above discussion is an advertisement for choice sets or some sort of set aside for lower SES kids who want to attend schools with this type of fund raising capacity.