Check the 501(c)3 code. It says something to the effect of no one can personally benefit from funds raised. I would say someone is looking to personally benefit from funds raised... wouldn't you? Legal issues aside, if you really want to know what people think of the idea, you could send a notice home to your parents and see what they say...
I'm pretty good at playing devil's advocate - but try as I might just can't do it here. My vote - NO. There are several suggestions on this site as to how to get teachers involved - as Metzy would say - the more they show up the better chance they have of getting what they want for their classroom. There are also several posts that state that teachers spend a great deal of their own money on their classroom. Perhaps the correlation then would be if you show up for the meetings and thus get what you need for your classroom you get to keep YOUR OWN money, and that could translate into a stipend? My answer is still NO.
Wow, getting paid to be a part of a volunteer/non-profit organization--what a deal!! Surely ther is a teacher at your school who would be willing to take this on simply out of the goodness of their heart. Also, what happens if a dozen teachers come forward to be the representative--special election to decide who gets the cash? I would feel very uncomfortable having to put up money to get someone involved and the parents in my PTO would simply laugh out loud at such a request. We have a Teacher's Discretionary Fund that allots $200 for each teacher to spend in his/her classroom for supplies and learning materials, but that is for EVERYONE. We welcome our teachers and deeply encourage their involvement and feedback. We have literally told them that we need them (the 'T' in PTO)in order to be able to make decisions about how to best improve our children's educational experience. $500 is a lot of money and I can't help but think of all the things that money could go for that would benefit ALL the students. Good Luck.
Our parent group, the PTSO, has never had experience with what you have posted, but I must say, that leaves me with a bad feeling. I would be offended if one of our teachers even asked us for the money in that way. We provide money to all teachers each year, and provide another budget amount of $500.00 per year for PTSO Room Representatives to come and ask for things specifically for their classroom/teachers. This money has bought die cuts, CD players, etc. We also have many teachers come to our meetings with requests for funding for special projects such as New Books, Digital Cameras, etc. We can then ask parents to vote on these requests nd they are almost always approved. However, to provide some sort of "payment" to a teacher who supposedly "volunteers" to be at your PTSO meetings as a rep. seems offensive...just my thought on the matter! :confused:
I need some feedback on teacher stipends! My PTO has been asked to give a $500.00 stipend to the teacher who volunteered to be the teacher representative on our executive committee. What are your thoughts and experiences on this subject?
Thanks
