Atlantic Article on Rolling Terrace and Outsized Role of Affluent White Parents
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Anonymous
Nice strawman you've got there. NO ONE is saying that white parents are racist for being involved with the PTA. Some white parents, however, are racially tone deaf when it comes to the activities they organize through the PTA and the "causes" that they direct the PTA to take on. I work in international development. It's a field where it is very easy to do the wrong thing for the "right" reasons. That's why it is so important to involve local voices when planning projects/activities, and to have members of the beneficiary community (the stakeholders, as it were) as EQUAL participants in program design and implementation. |
Anonymous
Nope. You pretty much summed it up. |
Anonymous
This is not a racial issue at all. It boils down to the PTA needs to advocate for the whole student body and not just for those whose parents have more time on their hands. You couldn't possibly care more about your child than I do but my job requires me to be on site physically every day. |
Anonymous
Yep. Just ignore the crazies. It's sad they've taken over the Atlantic, but so be it. |
Anonymous
This!!! |
Anonymous
+1 Getting very tired of being told that white people are racist no matter what they do or think. I would be interested to know if the same people bashing these white PTA parents are the same people who bash whites for moving into predominantly white neighborhoods. Which way do you want it??? Do you want schools to be integrated? Then you're going to have white people involved in the schools' PTAs. |
Anonymous
What is the "right" reason to be involved in the PTA?? Because you care about the school and the education the kids are getting! It's basically the ONLY reason to be involved, right or wrong. I didn't think this was a very good article because the examples weren't that great. It was so wrong of the PTA to purchase gift cards to thank the teachers for their hard work? Isn't that part of their job, to show teacher appreciation?? |
Anonymous
x 100 |
Anonymous
Some are erroneously making this about white people. They are wrong. But I think you can concede that PTA should serve all students. |
Anonymous
NP. It is, which is why I didn't get that example. Schools also do fundraisers for students who are disadvantaged or for other schools that are disadvantaged (toy drives, backpack drives, coat drives, dry goods for pantries, etc.). Fundraising efforts can serve multiple parties. |
Anonymous
Of course. I also concede that ALL parents should be active and engaged in their kids' education, and ESPECIALLY RESPECT THOSE WHO MAKE THE TIME AND EFFORT, NOT THE ARMCHAIR CRITICS. |
Anonymous
It is about white people! It's ATTACKING white people who are involved in PTAs, the horror! If we want integrated schools, how do you want white people to act? Don't we want them to be involved?? Of course they're going to be concerned primarily about their own kids' educations, that is human nature. But hopefully there will be discussion and they will understand that their kids' interests aren't the only ones involved. Like with the computer example. It's a legit question to raise whether it's good for kids to have more screen time. But once the educational objectives were explained, funds were raised to buy the computers and everyone was satisfied. What is wrong with how that went down? It all seemed pretty normal and expected to me. Only true heartless bigots don't want PTAs to serve all students. |
Anonymous
I think it's important to look at the article here. Now, RT parents have disputed this, but the article says this: For example, parents of kids in the program ensure that its teachers receive gift cards at the beginning of the year and during Teacher Appreciation Week to pay for supplies. “There are parents in our school that can’t put enough cents together to get a coat much less give their teacher their supply list,” Rivera-Blanco said. “That imbalance is huge. You can walk into a classroom and know which is a Spanish-immersion classroom and which one isn’t.” They aren't talking about the PTA here. They are talking about how the relative affluence of the immersion families creates a disconnect between the immersion classrooms and the "Academy" classrooms in terms of resources. So, again, it's about where parents are choosing to put their resources. Are parents taking on projects that benefit the whole school, or are they just making sure their own kids are covered? Same with the Chromebooks. Affluent parents opposed them because THEIR kids get plenty of time to familiarize themselves with technology. Never mind that the majority of the kids in the school don't. It's putting your own compulsions over the needs of the students in the school. Basically, you have middle/upper class parents trying to create a middle/upper class mini-school within a low-income majority-minority school. It has some issues. |
Anonymous
x 100 If you don't like how things are going, get involved yourself and add your voice. |
Anonymous
I've said this a half dozen times in this thread already but why are posters focusing on donations when I was the original RT parent who said all kids get the same benefits at RT and the Atlantic got that part wrong. We already established that! Now let's talk about how the PTA shuts out the regular program school from all decisions and treats them with contempt. |