That title could suggest all sorts of directions for this entry, but I’m going to stick to the original thought I had.
Since I threw out the accountability word the other day, I got to wondering… does the work and support provided to a school by the PTA allow school systems to be LESS accountable for the quality of educational experience they provide?
Let’s imagine an office. Memo goes out:
Thank you, staff! Your participation in the Entertainment Book fundraiser allowed us to purchase a brand new laminator for the office. As you know, the old one was over a decade old… and that showed in the quality of the lamination. Congratulations to Cheryl Kelley, our top seller. For her outstanding sales, she won a $15 gift card donated by the local pizza store. Let’s think of Cheryl when we enjoy our new laminator!
Or…
“Due to budget cutbacks, we need each of you to bring in one ream of paper for our office supply.”
Sounds pretty silly, doesn’t it? But that is essentially how schools operate. Supplies that seem basic and essential to the education of children are harder to come by, and often, schools are turning to parents to cover these needs. A lot of this work is covered by PTA’s and parent volunteers.
Don’t get me wrong. I think parent volunteers are wonderful, and the message it sends to children about involvement and interest and value of education is tremendous. PTA’s also provide enrichment and parent education and other supplementary services. However, it makes me wonder that PTA’s are covering things like office equipment, library books, bandages for the health room, and manpower like staffing for health rooms and safe arrival lines, administrative support for things like photocopying, etc. Would a business survive on volunteer services? Why do we expect our schools to do so?
PTA’s operate with volunteers giving their time, energy, talents, and cash. Many PTA’s manage budgets of over 100K per year; some closer to 400K annually. Are we letting state budgets, federal budgets, and school districts off the hook with these bailouts? The federal government gave huge bailouts to private businesses… what about the public schools?
Ooh, good questions…
Well thought out and well written. Our PTA has very small budget, less than $10k. We buy cases of paper for the office. Last year we gave the teachers each $100 to use at their discretion (but provide receipts for). Unfortunately, if we don’t do this, our kids will be the ones to suffer. If we don’t bail out our schools, I don’t think the gov’t would step up. Sad. Especially for lower income schools, where the PTA doesn’t have much to work with.