Hi Susan, I too am a Council President. Are you looking to argue against the answers you recieved or just some clarification on what has been addressed?
I do not disagree with most of her response to your concerns the only thing that I would find may not be entirely true is that there is a SMALL number of people who are paid within the organization. For example, within our state PTA, we have one paid employee who maintains the state office throughout the year. Our lobbyist is unpaid. On the national level there are a couple of paid lobbyists and staff. In relation to the size of our organization and the work that it requires to maintain work for 6 million members, it is an extremely small percentage in relation to our size.
The Hispanic Initiative is a program designed to encourage parent involvement WITHIN our organization. It does not seek to divide us but to bring us together, to work together. Here in Nevada, we have a large Hispanic population that does not have the experience of being a parent involved in their child's school. This concept is not practiced in Mexico, for example. This initiative helps us introduce this and impliment it in this demographic. It does not seek to create a seperate Hispanic group but to help Us better understand and to provide for cultural differences.
As for the political activity, there are people who believe (and very strongly) that PTA supports a candidate based on the issues at hand. Rumors about who we have endorsed circulate frequently. Our status of being a 501c3 prohibits this. With an organization of our size, if we were endorsing a candidate, do not for a minute, think that the IRS would not have addressed that. Our continued status as a 501c3 would confirm that we are not breaking that rule.
There are National positions (put up over the years to voted on by the membership and positions are made from an affirmative vote) and there are State positions. States can and do adopt independent positions in relation to specific issues. A good example would be our own Where We Stand at
www.nevadapta.org/wherewe.html
many states have their positions posted online and you can look them up by visiting their sites. It is also my understanding that National is in the process of posting their positions on their site as well.
There is mention in the e-mail of a past President who had gone somewhere, are you perhaps referring to Ginny Markell and her touring with Patti Labelle and Tipper Gore for the Department of Education's "America Goes Back to School Bus Tour"? They also did the tour in previous years, prior to 2000. You can read more about this event at
www.ed.gov/PressReleases/07-1999/agbts.html
and
www.ed.gov/Family/agbts/index.html
It is designed to encourage parental involvement in communities and schools. That is a PTA issue.
The issue of whether or not PTO Today is a business has been discussed before. While it is a good business that provides a good service, it is still a business. It is up to you to form an opinion about whether or not that is an issue to you. But if you were to decide to remain a PTO, it does not mean that you have to run through or be affiliated with it either.
I am very proud and honored to serve in the PTA and I strongly believe in the work that they have done and they will do. I also feel that the couple of bucks that I pay to be a member of the PTA is well worth it.
I am inclined to disagree with much of the PTA mud-slinging that happens. I also believe that most PTOs are working in the best interest of their children. All of the parents on these message boards care about their children regardless of the acronym.