Anybody who has been in a position of any kind for a long time can become complacent and just do the same old things over and over because it's easier that way. Your parents need to wake these teachers up and let them know that you expect your children to be getting the best education and the latest teaching methods.
I don't know that the PTO can do anything through their meetings other than giving parents a place to vent their frustrations. If parents are feeling that the school is not providing the best education possible, they need to go to the school board and administration. They need to let them know what they are unhappy with and what they expect from their school. Offer to work with the school board and administration to affect change. If the school board is uncooperative, remember they are elected and they can be voted out at the next election and replaced with people who will do the job as parents want it done.
As for getting teachers involved in the PTO(and they need to be involved), make sure you are treating them as any other member. Ask for their input on programs, events, curriculum and any other issues just as you would any parent. They can provide wonderful insights and give you information and ideas you may have never thought of just through their unique position of being in the school all day with all the children.
Wow, Kmamom! I may not be one of the "experienced PTO'ers", but that won't stop me from throwing my opinion into the ring!
The core reason why I put up with oodles of BS at school is that I want my child's educational experience to be the best it can be. He will only go to grade school once (we hope!) and there are no "do-overs" for childhood (don't some of us wish there were!) Anyway, teachers are the integral part of that experience and if they're not up to snuff, we must do something. And I think an organization of parents REALLY must do something. I hear alot of people say things like, "PTO's aren't there to set policy". That may be true, but we are there to support the school as a whole and if we know somethings not going well, we should have an obligation to speak up. (I'm going to receive hate mail, I just know it!)
That said, let the principal know your feelings about the lack of "caring teachers" and the lack of new, innovative, fresh lesson plans. Next, I would do everything in my power to get some (even if it's only one) teachers to attend a PTO meeting. If you get them in the door your PTO might even try sponsoring a guest speaker for them. Perhaps a "mini teaching lesson for the teachers" or something to let them know what you expect as parents...in other words, tell them (kindly) to throw away the 7 year old lesson plan!
I know this post went on forever; sorry. Hope some of this helps!
I've a question for the experienced PTOers/PTAers out there (Tim? MichelleB? Jon?): where exactly do the teachers fit in in the whole PTO/PTA thing? Ideally are they supposed to be a part of the PTO/PTA just as any parent would be? I ask because I don't want to insert my foot in my mouth in any subsequent discussions.
I've been an underpaid ESL teacher and reading tutor in an inner-city adult education school, and a county jail. I know how hard teaching can be, and what a thankless job it can be. I also was one of those people who spent my own money to get materials for the classes and spent more time than I can remember constantly reworking lesson plans. That said, in our schools the teachers are handsomely paid (full-time librarian at our high school makes $80,000 +; the cost of living in our county is so sick the teachers get paid on a higher scale). They also pay nothing into the benefits--is this normal for most other states? It's the norm here, and tenure has left most of the teaching staff less than enthusiastic as far as job performance goes (test scores are mediocre at best, and the number of students opting to go to post-high school education is low), it's not uncommon to see quite a few teachers hitting the road before all the kids are even out of a building, some teachers just kick an unruly kid out of class with no follow-up after school because they themselves don't feel like staying after, and I just found out that the curriculum my son's 2nd grade teacher is using hasn't changed at all in at least 7 years (I know this because a friend of mine with older children showed me the same syllabus word for word that my son has that her son used 7 years ago, and that her daughter used five years after that), so parents are getting resentful the teachers here still get treated as though they're all underpaid slaves to their life's calling. (I know I know--I'm sterotyping--one school in our district is amazing and the teachers are uber-involved with the kids, and I realize what PTOs/PTAs do are good and play an important role. Please--don't be mean to me!). We have a new principal at our school who has been great, and who is mightily trying to put things in a better place. *But where does a PTO fit into this situation? I know that neutrality should try to be maintained, but how does a group go about motivating teachers, let alone the parents without taking some sort of stand? :confused:
