Reply to If you don't join and/or volunteer in your school's PTA, please explain why

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Reply to "If you don't join and/or volunteer in your school's PTA, please explain why"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]As both a teacher and a parent, I don't see the value of a lot of what the PTA does.

In my experience, some of the things that the PTA does as nice but not neccessary -- new flowers along the walkway?  sure, why not, but not more valuable than other volunteer work.  Volunteers in the classroom?  Six to one half dozen to the other, in my opinion.

In other cases, I see the PTA pushing agendas that are not in the interest of all children.  At one school I know the PTA raised a huge amount of money to pay for glass display [b]cabinets for children's artwork, that were placed in the hallway that used to hold indoor recess, so now the children don't play anymore,[/b] and working parents whose kids ride the bus don't get to see their kids' artwork because it isn't sent home.  Lovely.

I know other PTA's, especially JKLM's that put huge amount of emphasis on things like [b]Halloween parties that actively exclude children of certain religious beliefs.[/b]I feel strongly that PTA's [b]shouldn't be allowed to raise money for either curriculum or staff, as I think this is an unethical practice[/b], and so I'm certainly not going to help "fundraise".  [/quote]

I find that strange about the glass display. It seems to me that in most schools, everything the PTA does is vetted by the administration, and if the latter objects to it, it doesn't happen.
Regarding the Halloween parties, would you please explain? I know that there are parents who object to Halloween because they consider a satanic practice, but frankly, it's a beloved American tradition and a holiday in many many highly Christian countries, so if my kids couldn't have a Halloween party on that account, I would be pissed.
And why shouldn't PTA be allowed to raise money for curriculum or staff on an ethical basis? I know that in some jurisdictions this isn't allowed, but we used to live in a city where a 501(c)3 working alongside the PTA would raise funds to provide arts and music teachers and curricula that wouldn't have been available to the kids otherwise because the city just didn't allocate enough money for that. How is that unethical?[/quote]

PP. I should add that I helped with that arts and music fundraising even though my kids were enrolled in art and music lessons outside of school. Those who benefited the most were the kids whose parents couldn't afford outside lessons (since my kids were way past that level of music instruction anyway), and that's just as it should be, if you believe that the school is a community with equal opportunity for all children. What's unethical about that?[/quote]

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