Reply to Do most families join PTA?

Forum Index » Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS)

Reply to "Do most families join PTA?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Our school has a dismal sign up rate - only 76 memberships out of over 600 kids in the elementary school. It’s a good example of how wealthier schools have an edge over less affluent ones; PTAs can make big differences for student, parent, and teacher experiences. When you have a virtually non existent PTA, it’s much more difficult. We have a yearly budget of ~$5,000 inclusive of fundraisers. Even schools with similar demographics / SES profiles in our area have budgets of upward of $20,000 because more families are involved.

As a parent who is a member and who values an active PTA it’s sometimes frustrating that there are so many parents who are “free riders” at our school. The cost of membership is $15 so not super expensive. [/quote]

$15 is a LOT for many families at a low income school.  Many don't join because of how the PTA is run, not money and if you want more members, give a low income waiver.[/quote]

The PTA is run well and by a diverse set of officers - racially, ethnically, socio-economically and otherwise. The poster who noted that culturally many families are not accustomed to pitching in to support a school and students is dead on; this is an issue for us. And, candidly, as someone who’s volunteered for the PTA over the last four years, my sense is also many parents aren’t interested in contributing - they want to “get”. There’s a sense of entitlement. They want the book fair, they want the pumpkin patch, the free movie night, they want the field trips and cultural events the PTA supports and feel entitled to those things (most paid for or subsidized through through PTA memberships, fundraisers, etc). They don’t seem interested in helping to do the work to earn those things, even when they understand the role of the PTA in advocating for and supporting these types of enrichment events.

To PP who said $15 is a lot. I disagree and am not a wealthy person by any stretch. It comes to about $1.50 a month for the school year per family. It’s a very low rate when compared to virtually any MCPS PTA (our nieghbor if ES is $30 and the middle school is $35). It’s a matter of prioritization. Either it matters to a parent to spend the equivalent of a Coke or Pepsi per month to support their kids’ educational experience or it doesn’t. For most at our school, it’s not a priority. Lots of free riders and unfortunately the kids at our school won’t get the kinds of support and opportunities afforded by active PTAs at wealthier schools where parents are invested and active. Sad but true. [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics