Reply to UMC parents in low income schools

Forum Index » Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS)

Reply to "UMC parents in low income schools"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I've been the PTA President at a low-income FOCUS school and honestly, PTA board members spend so much time doing things to help the WHOLE school whether it's through fundraising, having PTA meetings, executing membership campaigns, finding Spanish interpreters, planning events, recruiting for volunteers, finding ways to increase engagement, having meetings with the Principal, finding ways to support teachers, managing the budget, finding after school programs that provide scholarships,etc.. that we don't have time to advocate or to even be with our OWN kids. 
Seriously. This whole idea that we only advocate for our own kids is ridiculous. This is the way it works-we get together with the Principal at the beginning of the year to understand the needs of the school and how the PTA can help with such needs. We then formulate a budget that is driven by those needs,  and then we vote on that budget at the first PTA meeting (which even non-PTA members can attend). We then execute events and activities throughout the year to ensure that we meet  that projected budget so that we meet the needs of the school- in which the Principal has had a huge say on.
And really, the PTA doesn't have that much power to say whether or not chromebooks should be used at the school. Of course, they can provide individual feedback just as any other parent at the school can. It's up to the principal to make the final decision based on what is best for the entire school. What's truly important is that the Principal is in tune with the needs of the families. He needs to be an engaging and a supportive leader.
By the way, for those of you who struggle getting engagement from Spanish speaking families, there is usually a Community coordinator/rep that works for MCPS that is assigned to your school. Ask your Principal about it. A lot of times we used our Community Coordinator to help us reach out to the Spanish speaking families. Ours spoke Spanish too so we used her as an interpreter at the meetings. I wouldn't have wanted to spend money on an interpreter either- knowing that there is someone- whether it's staff, or a parent who can provide that service. I was at a Focus school- with a limited PTA budget. I'm going to find ways to save money so that I can have more money on other things such as paying a scholarship for a science after school program for a needy child. [/quote]

THIS is how it actually works.  But this is going to be really hard for OP to read.  How is OP going to feel like a social justice warrior if what you're describing is actually the truth?[/quote]

Yup, it's easy to judge from the outside. Many people have a really bad perception of the PTA and what they do. They imagine a bunch of white, well-to-do, stay at home  moms who plan bake sales and classroom parties and who chaperone field trips. This is far from the truth. When I was PTA president, I didn't even have time to volunteer to go to my kids' field trips but yet we were raising money so that the needy kids could attend them.[/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