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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Be the Change folks, be the change.

Each year almost 6 of our 15 positions are new K parents eager to get going. It's great. [/quote]

+1 this. If you don't like what your PTA board does and think they're unfriendly/disorganized, etc then run for a board position and be super friendly and organized next year. The PTA board is just parents who spend lots of their time taking on an inpatient second job. They're not in the customer service industry and sometimes they might be worn out or disorganized. If you don't like the way it's done, be productive and do it differently instead of just complaining about people.[/quote]

"run for the board"?  I have literally never been in a school where the PTA runs an open election.  The nominating committee picks a slate of candidates who are presented unopposed for the positions and the parents are asked to vote them in on a voice vote.  I have never been given a paper ballot to vote in a PTA election.   The idea that it's an open election is ludicrous.  It's just a bunch of cliquey parents self-perpetuating.[/quote]

There are supposed to be nominations open to the floor. A voice vote needs to be voted on before the actual vote. Sounds like your school isn't following their bylaws. But also, who are these crazy people who want to be on the PTA board for years and years??? [/quote]

It's not the same people.  It's their friends.  These people do it because they see it as in their self-interest.  Some see it as good for their resume to say they have run a large group or been active in the community.  Some see it as a steppong stone to elected office.  some think it's good networking for their business life.  And others use it as a business opportunity.  (one mom on our PRA took the afterschool program, which had previously been run at low cost by the PTA and privatized it for herself, increasing the fees and making a tidy profit for herself.).

At the HS level, I have noticed that PTA is much more about socializing and reinforcing moral standing.  I'm thinking of those PTA parents who are moralizing about no tolerance for drinking while their kids are the biggest drinkers.  I literally heard one parent (of a serious partier) asking rhetorically why they are preaching to the PTA meeting since it was clear that the "bad parents" were the ones that weren't at the PTA meeting.  I never came back to the PTA after that.

I also have seen how money and lack thereof is misread as committment or lack of committment.  I am an hourly wage worker, pretty dependent on responding to client needs.  I live paycheck to paycheck and don't write donation checks to the school find because I literally can't afford it.

Color me jaded about the PTA.....[/quote]

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