Reply to South Arlington & PTAs

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Manpower matters a lot. There are a lot of grants available through National PTA, for instance, but to be eligible you have to have at least a certain number of volunteers to run the sponsored event/program. If parents aren't willing to help, it's a lot of missed opportunities.[/quote]

The stereotype is that NA has a lot of SAHM who provide the core labor for PTAs, and there aren't many SAHM in SA. Is there truth to it?[/quote]

In our NA PTA, there are plenty of SAHP volunteers but there are also a lot of people who volunteer in addition to working. Only one member of our PTA board is a SAHP, the rest all work, most of them full-time.[/quote]

I think that must be a big part of it. I've lived in SA for 6 years and in that time I've met dozens of parents, but I have yet to meet a SAHP or hear of a spouse or partner who is one. [/quote]

So we're ignoring where pp said most of the board is working parents rather than sah parents? Guess that doesn't fit the agenda...[/quote]

There are a lot of SAHM in SA.  Beyond that, I doubt there are any stats on how many work part-time and/or return to work when their kids reach school age in SA v NA.  For those of you way up in the north who don't venture down to the south, let me dispel some rumors.  There are male and female doctors, lawyers, architects, engineers, college professors, master gardeners, physicists, accountants, federal contractors, PR professionals, researchers, and other successful professional people all over south arlington.  SA also happens to have a lot more laborers, lower-educated, non-English speaking residents who are also loving and dedicated parents who value education but whose culture trusts the educational professionals to tend to education and does not encourage parental involvement, let alone parental hijacking and control of everything.  It is not all about having time to volunteer.  It's also not feeling comfortable doing so by culture and also at times due to not feeling welcomed to do so by the parents in the school who belong to the former group - including communication barriers between the two.  I imagine dual incomes helps people in north arlington afford to live there.  So I don't think employment status is as much a factor as everyone keeps saying is.[/quote]

I dunno, I think it can be hard for SA parents - even professionals - to imagine how on earth families in NA can afford to live there on one income. I doubt it's typical, but it certainly isn't rare. You could just go to the corner of  lee and Harrison on a weekday at 11 am and do a headcount. [/quote]

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