I myself generally have no beef with PTAs and happen to agree with many of their politics.
The school I was curious about is not my child's school and apparently for whatever reason, they switched from a PTA status to a PTO in the late 90s.
I happen to have read many of their PTO notes and they do not charge a membership fee. My son's school's PTO also does not charge a membership fee. Our PTO also carries over several thousand dollars each year.
Sorry to hear that you have some officers who are running people off from volunteering and wanting to become involved.
I think everyone is correct and incorrect to some degree. I know I joined my child's PTO when he was in private pre-school to belong to the only parent organization at the school, and then joined the PTA when we switched schools. I have now been a PTA member for 11+ years and am proud of the accomplishments of the PTA- the one's I've been associated with, and my own, now that I am a State Board member.
The council in my school district has said time and time again that switching to a PTO is only about money- that several local units have expressed interest in "other" options that will help them keep their funds. In our council of 55 local units, only 17 had more members than last year. So conceivably, those local units who need extra money aren't going to have anything more this year, so why think they will get a better deal if they go PTO? You pay more in insurance, you have to start a new non-profit organization, and there won't be training for new officers or chairman like they had with the PTA. I've also noticed the council has not helped those local units out by letting them slide on council dues... They keep saying their first priority is to the whole district and the parents. If that was really so, then why are they trying to force the other PTA's who never mentioned they were interested in other options to go PTO?
PTA "politics" are helping children all over the U.S., even those whose parents are in a PTO. (How ironic is that?) So while you are complaining about PTA policies and politics, they are working for your children. Jan V. is correct- you have the right to make your voice heard at the local, council, district, state and national levels in PTA. There is no such structure in any other parent organization. If you are a PTA officer, did you have to pay for your PTA Leadership course, or did the expense come out of your budget- that's those PTA dues at work at the local unit and national level by helping develop that course.
Something else about PTA's: my elementary school isn't using all their money NOW for parent programs so why would they if they had more? They have consistently carried over several thousand dollars over the summer so they don't have a money problem. At our school, this year's membership numbers are down almost 24%- not because people don't want to pay dues to State and National PTA, but because the officers are running people off from wanting to volunteer and being involved.
And finally, none of the PTA's I've ever belonged to had dues higher than $5 per year- the same amount I spend when I get a combo meal at Wendy's or Whataburger just once. The PTO I belonged to charged $10 for dues. So how much money have I saved since switching to a PTA? I pay dues to two schools with the same amount I paid one PTO.
Well, I did a search for the school on the PTA web site, and they are not listed. Possibly they simply have not corrected their name on tax forms submitted. They maybe changed from a PTA to PTO before 1998 - as far back as their notes go that are posted on their web site.
Some schools have both a PTA and a PTO. There are various reasons for this--perhaps they have kept a PTA minimally active while starting up a PTO. And the PTO doesn't need to be incorporated. So, what you've seen is possible. I can't imagine a PTA calling themself a PTO, though--all the local unit PTA bylaws need to be approved at the state level, and that includes getting the name approved. There are no circumstances I can think of where a state PTA would approve not calling its group a PTA.
Is this acceptable and a common thing that is done? This may fall in the NOYB category, but I was wondering.
I was checking out some of our neighboring public elementary schools on the GuideStar web site and noticed one of the schools was a PTA. Their group goes by the name XXXXXX PTO.
I occasionally go to their school's web site and check out their PTO notes because their Principal is political at the state and national Principal politics level. I like to see what other PTOs are doing and especially those with experienced principals/leaders.
No where in any of their newsletters, or PTO notes does it state that they are a PTA and it states that membership is automatic and there has never been any mention of mandatory dues.
I don't know that much about PTAs, but would think that PTAs would be calling themselves a PTA and not a PTO.
The financial info. on Guidestar is for 2003, and their meeting notes, newsletters go back into the late 90s and are kept current.
Obviously, since I don't have a child there, I'm not privvy to all the facts, but I just thought it seemed peculiar to call yourself a PTO when you are a PTA. Their meeting notes are very detailed, so I would have thought some mention of it would have been indicated if they just changed to a PTA in the last 12 months. As detailed as they seem to be, I would have thought their name would have also been changed to PTA.
Oh yeah...I did a search on my state's SOS web site and they were never incorporated as a PTO.
