We dont just give them the money. They all have a stipend of $100 but they have to submit an order request , a P.O or a receipt. They have to show us the money goes to a classroom purpose.
Our teachers are encouraged to pay dues, but do not have to.
In general, giving out parent money to teachers seems like a bad idea and asking them to pay the $5 seems like bribery.
The PTOs with which I've been involved would never have just handed over an amount to teachers, if that's what you mean as a "stipend".
At times, when finances permitted, we allocated each teacher a set amount for classroom supplies reimbursement. ($50, $100, whatever was decided that year). This was announced to all teachers and they submitted receipts to our treasurer. Not piecemeal but to get the whole amount. We never scrutinized exactly what they bought for the classroom, but we did require receipts as that is how the IRS and our auditor required it be handled.
As far as who got it, PTO membership wasn't a factor. Because the gift wasn't for the "teacher". The teacher was merely the agent. The funds were for the classroom and to benefit the kids.
If the kids are your true target and the goal is to serve the school, then whether or not a teacher is a PTO member has no bearing.
Personally, I wouldn't support the money truly being just a gift for the teacher. Plus - they'd probably have to declare it as income on their taxes.
Ever since I have been on the board the PTO has paid out stipends to the teachers each year. A set amount based on a predetermined set of criteria. The money is paid out normally after Christmas and basically is just a check written to each teacher for the amount. The amount is normally around $100 or so. So, while it isn't huge but it isn't something to sneeze at either.
I was just talking to a friend of mine who moved and is now part of a PTA. We were discussing some of the differences and she was commenting about how the PTA paid the stipends, etc. And she said that the teacher only gets the stipend if they join the PTA.
We have never required the teacher to join the PTO to get their stipend, we have always just paid it to all teachers. And last year we did have more teacher's join the PTO then in years past but out of 49 checks that were distributed only 15 teachers are actually PTO members. Our membership fee is only $5 per family, which isn't a huge amount, imo.
So, my questions are:
1. Do other schools pay stipends to their teachers?
2. Are the teachers required to be PTO members?
