Last year our staff was in the same boat, their principal dictated to them, and they acted like babies kicking and screaming. When they were done screaming they simply pouted and bullied the volunteering parents. This year I attended the first Staff meeting and passed around a survey. I asked the teachers very simple questions 4 were of little importance, but two were the main reason I wrote it.
1st ? What Positive items, ideas, events, or activites do you expect from the PTO.
2nd What Negative items, ideas events, or activities do you expect for the PTO.
You would be suprised how candid teachers will be when a survey is anonymous. I found out that our teachers were upset because of three main things. 1)Lack of communication (I spoke with the principal on how to better communicate she is allowing me to present a Teacher Newsletter at a staff meeting once a month) 2) Too much gossip from the parents or parents that know too much information that should remain in the school. 3) Lack of their say or involvement. We are a pTo and many organizations seem to forget about the T part. Our teachers will receive all information that our parents receive, and they are asked to volunteer as much as the parents. We are also working on emailing the teachers information...they have too much paper work and often our memos get put at the bottom of a pile. I hope this info helps. Delene
[This message has been edited by Delene (edited 09-19-2001).]
A little late now but, I have always written the teachers a letter at the beginning of the year and laid out our programs to them and exactly what their role will be. It is difficult enough to have our teachers hand out fundraising flyers let alone help implement an ongoing program! I really think this should have been a school program and not PTO. Surely PTO could fund it. I would really try to hand this back to the school. We also let them know in the letter any drastic changes as were in your bylaws about dispersing funds. A letter still may do the trick and yes, kill them with kindness!
wow, i wish you could hand back the shovel to the princ that he used to dig this hole that your in. I do agree you do a letter and keep it nice, my mom always taught me to 'kill'em with kindness'. last year our teachers boycotted anything that we did because of our prez....she said alot of things to the press that hurt our school. Anyway, it took everything i had to let these teachers know i may have been the sectretary but i don't agree with the prez. now as prez. it's still tough but it's getting better. as far as 'mister wonderful' can you speck to the school board about the lack of cooperation etc?
I wish you the best and please don't give up. When times get tough, I grab one of my four and they are always good for a hug or two. Look into those eyes, YEAP, that's who we are doing this for!!!!
thanks for all the suggestions. at this point i feel betrayed and used by soo many people. to answer some questions in the other posts: the program was started abt 3 years ago, the teachers approaced the pto to fund (buy rewards) for a program that would reward good behavior. this being very subjective not all teachers rewarded the same way or amount, many parents were upset and the princ put the complaint to the pto, making it a pto program since we funded it. it was discussed at many meetings and even teachers agreed the program needed "fixed", as usuall no one was willing to be the one to fix it. so as stated in first post 2 pto officers, princ and teacher rep brainstormed and created a program very similar to the first with detailed description on what behavior is expected(good grades not covered, that is already under another program). with princ and teacher rep approval program was started last week, now some teachers are unhappy with the pto, claiming we are trying to tell them what to do..the fact that the princ and teacher rep were involved seems lost..as far as communication, none of the unhappy teachers spoke to the teacher rep, or left a message on the pto voicemail. i got the info from a pto member who is personal friends with several teachers. fri morn before school i spoke with the princ, he said he was unaware any teachers were unhappy, i asked him to advise them if they had any questions, concerns or complaints they could contact the teacher rep or leave a message on, being his usual helpful self, he did nothing, he did not speak to any teachers, the teacher rep informed me of this. they all have voicemail, email and good old talking face to face. we have a meeting this monday, so i will not have time to request a meeting,and i doubt the princ would allow it. i will probably type a nice letter and put in each teacher mailbox. i do not wish to alienate the teachers but so many of the problems the pto now faces are due to the lack of communication between the princ and the teachers. ps last year our teachers were on strike for about 4 weeks and there is still alot of hard feelings.
3forall- Our group has two teacher reps that serve on the exc. board. This has helped us out with the issue how they are not involved. We also have an ext. at the school for the teachers (and Parents) to contact us without having to give out our home number.
You do need to speak to the teachers but not behind the Principal's back. I f you are going to communicate and keep lines open EVERYONE NEEDS to hear you and not be left out. I am concerned with how you are implimenting programs and that's the way it is.
We are having an issue right now with the way our lunch for the teachers during conferences is going so I asked for time during the next staff meeting to address this with the teachers. All I did was talk to the Principal and she agreeded it was little but needed to be discussed and is giving me 15 minutes. I realize I have a unusual relationship with my principal and not everyone can just talk to theirs but it can really help.
Please schedule a meeting with the entire staff and Principal and listen to them.....have compalints put in writting, be strong, and it wouldn't hurt to have by-laws available for everyone. Are the teachers members of your group? Why do I ask, this makes a difference too....
I wish you luck and I don't mean to be a know it all (no really!) I'm a thinker and you sparked a thought!
May the force be with you!
First of all, how do you know that the teachers are angry about the behavioral incentive program you are trying to implement? If you haven't directly heard any complaints, I would dismiss them. I was able to attend our first faculty meeting this year and I believe it helped emphasize that we are a TEAM & we're all in this together. (I've been emphasizing parental involvement as one of PTO's goals.) I feel like it helped make me more approachable. I also let the teachers know we desperately want their feedback - positive AND negative! I did suggest that negative feedback should come to officers only - that the general parental population might misinterpret them.
Second, I'm very curious what the behavior incentive program you mentioned entails. I agree with Sue that your description makes it sound like something out of PTO/PTA scope. Can you give us an explanation of what the program is? I assume your principal thought it was a good idea...?
As far as financial issues, I suggest you stick to your guns about prior approval for expenditures. You can simply explain that you are following the procedures detailed in the bylaws. Regarding the teachers only being involved in PTO if you change several programs, it sounds like they haven't been that involved anyway...
