Reply to Atlantic Article on Rolling Terrace and Outsized Role of Affluent White Parents

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Reply to "Atlantic Article on Rolling Terrace and Outsized Role of Affluent White Parents"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I appreciate our PTA members for all that they do, like pp above. 
If these other voices want to be heard, they need to attend the meetings and volunteer for things in order to be 'represented' at the PTA. [b]I just don't buy the statement that six grown adults drown out any other voices. Speak up.[/b] Don't sit on the sidelines and complain you aren't represented. [/quote]

Well, in just one example...   A new policy was announced by the board and the PTA decided to organize a meeting to discuss it point by point mainly over a list serve.  I expressed my opinion of one of the points of the proposal which differed greatly from the organizer of the meeting who was the head of one of the PTA committees and in the end we decided it would get addressed at the meeting.  During the meeting said organizer essentially skipped over that issue by making a comment that "we don't care about that issue" and just moved on with what she wanted to discuss.  I tried to bring the issue to the floor anyway and she gave me the death stare and stated that we had more important things to discuss.  At that point we could've had a full blown smack down but decided against making a scene.[/quote]

I don't know if you are the same person talking about ESS, but I'm an ESS parent (and fairly active around the school) and am sorry you felt talked and not listened to.  That sucks.

I think we all can do better.  It means reaching out and learning about the administration's priorities (since they have the best sense of the school) as well as finding ways to include the voices of everyone, including those who don't turn up to every PTA meeting and school event.  I'd like to believe that my fellow parents are decent human beings who genuinely believe they are doing their best for their own kids and the rest of the kids in the school.  But that's the insidious thing about privilege, right?  It can be hard to see outside your own experience, and hard to imagine the needs of someone whose life is different than yours.  That's why all the PTAs, but particularly the ones in the racially and economically diverse schools, ought to really be thinking about how to amplify the voices of parents who are not part of the "Active 6." [/quote]

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