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I'll let you all in on a secret- those chairs were allowed to be purchased as an honorarium for people. So, in actuality, that money has been returned. As for our budget, not all of it is from dues- remember, Texas Life Members don't pay state dues, just National. I think some of our budget comes from Grants and General Donations.Texas state PTA I'd wager is somewhere around another $1.5 million. Ask Ms. Beyer what the Texas PTA paid for the conference chairs at state headquarters? Let's just say that those better be some awfully comfy chairs.
Michelle - You've made some strong points re: PTA benefits, but this one just doesn't stand up. The majority (I'd say vast majority, but there's no current accurate measure) of PTA's 5.9 million members simply joined the "parent group" at their child's school. A note came home with Johnny, "sure we'll join," they said, and they forked over $5. If by random luck their child's school was a PTA, then they became members of National PTA and $3 or $4 of their $5 went out to satte and national. If, on the other hand, their child's school had a PTO then their whole $5 stayed at the school. For the vast majority of parents, that's the decision. They can't spell PTA (hah, hah) never mind identifying with its goals and political positions, etc. That's why the macro number ($800+ per group) is appropriate -- it's not at all like each parent is making an informed decision to join national PTA. Not at all.Originally posted by Michelle B:
I did quickly address the issue of dues but not fully. I don't see the cost of being a PTA as the money 'your school' is paying to belong. I pay my $4.00 to belong. It's my money, not the school's. It is your individual member's money that they are 'funneling' through your local group to be a member. It is not your school's or group's money...... A senior citizen for example, knows that when they join a local chapter of AARP that it is a much larger organization and that their benefits extend beyond their own locality.
That has been true. However, starting this year National PTA has begun to get e-mail addresses for individual members as they enroll and the 9 states that they have started with are encouraging the units to get them to. A lot of information that National has put out in the past, that was supposed to be handed down to the membership, may have never made it. It's very true that you are only as good as your local volunteers. (a President for example may get the information from a Council President to distribute to memberships but the President never shares it)One of the big weaknesses of the PTA is that they don't have access to individual members, so they have to rely on the local units to get the word out on issues.