PTA meetings - do you go?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

My fianc%eacute;e teaches second grade in a local elementary school. Last night, she came back depressed last night from her Parents-Teachers Association meeting.

I asked her how many people were at the meeting. (Please bear in mind that this school has around 1000 students; there are eight second-grade classes alone.) She said that the four parents on the committee showed up, and besides that, there was 1 (one) parent in the audience.

Why is it that people don’t go to PTA meetings? If you have children in elementary school, do you go to the PTA meetings? If not, why not?

2

When the opportunity arises, I will go. But being without children right now, I think I would get a lot of strange looks if I were to go at this point…

Yer pal,
Satan

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I HAVE BEEN SMOKE-FREE FOR:
Three days, 19 hours, 59 minutes and 51 seconds.
153 cigarettes not smoked, saving $19.16.
Life saved: 12 hours, 45 minutes.

3

When my sons were both in public schools, I did go, but once I started home schooling them, it seemed a bit pointless.

However, those that I did attend, the people in charge, seemed to take some kind of sadistic joy in making the meetings as boring as humanly possible. Everyone would spread out, so that the speaker would end up talking to eight sets of parents spread out in one big room.

  • Hundreds * of chairs, empty in between us, where did Mrs. Goofy sit?? In the second row, I was too shy for the front row! And * why * do they insist on reading the minutes at every meeting??

Suggestions? Send out copies of the agenda BEFORE the PTA meeting, keep it short and to the point. Save elections or do them over the computer by e mail.

Judy

“Please Disregard the Following.”

4
  • Keep up the good work, Satan! * :smiley:

“Please Disregard the Following.”

5

Well, thank you for the responses. I see that PTA meetings are generally as well attended as this thread was! :frowning: Are no parents interested in their children’s education any more?

6

I think I’ll start going and will repeat the phrase “my Billy isn’t getting the education he deserves.” Hey, there’s got to be free coffee, right?

Can you get banned from PTA meetings?

7

I am on the executive board of my daughter’s middle school PTA. My husband attends my son’s PTA meetings, although he is not on the board. I have not attended a meeting since I started my new job. Here are my reasons.

  1. I get home too late.
  2. I have to cook dinner, do the laundry, go to Key Food and everything else I can’t do while I’m at work.
  3. It’s boring.
    The above are all rationalizations. Here is the real reason I do not go to meetings any more: My PTA is run by a clique of parents who do not want anyone’s input. The president of the PTA is on the staff of our district superintendant, who is running for city council. She has her own agenda. I was elected to the executive board by accident apparently. It has been made quite clear to me that I am there just to make quorum.

Now, if the school needs help with a party, or a bake sale. If the school needs a chaperone or a body in any way, I’m there. Just don’t ask me to attend those god awful meetings.

8

Arnold, I am a committee chairperson of my children’s PTO and I must say that I’m very proud of the attendance at the meetings. There are 500 children at the school (it’s a parochial school) and there are usually about 30 mothers there and 10 or so teachers on average. No fathers, unfortunately, but I think 10% is a pretty good turn-out.

Volunteering is a must at our school and I think it helps people feel involved with the school and teachers.
Lisa

P.S. NO, I don’t suck at math. There are 500 children, but most parents have more than one child attending school.

9

My observation of PTA groups is that usually there will be one person who will do all the organizational, motivational work. The “hey, everybody, let’s have a Spring Fling!” work. She (it’s always a “she”, and that’s an actual observed fact, not a baseless prejudice, OK?) is the one who gets people organized. Other people then run the telephone tree, find someone to do face painting, spend Saturday afternoon gluing crepe paper to backdrops, etc.

But then, when her kids move up to the next level (I’m talking about a kindergarten through 8th grade school), either out of primary into junior high, or out of junior high into high school, poof! your mover and shaker suddenly vanishes into thin air. Her kids aren’t there, so she’s not interested.

Then there will usually be a one or two-year interregnum, during which absolutely nothing will get done, PTA-wise. Then, finally, some other mover and shaker whose kid has just started kindergarten, or 6th grade, will move in and fill the vacuum.

And sometimes the movers and shakers just get burnt out, and quit in the middle. I can’t say I blame them one bit.

I stopped going to PTA meetings after the first one. A lot more actual work gets accomplished over the telephone.

Oh, and Arnold?

Never volunteer for anything.

I believe this holds true for the Army, too.

:smiley:

“Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast!” - the White Queen

10

After reading PunditLisa’s post (the post pipeline is constipated again), I thought I ought to point out that there’s usually a big difference in parental participation between public schools and private or parochial schools. If you’re paying $5,000 a year in tuition, you’re bound to feel a little more committed to the PTA and the school.

“Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast!” - the White Queen

11

Why don’t I go? Because they hold them at a skating rink not even in my town. I’d have to drive past the international airport and through 2 other cities before I get to the city that they hold the meetings in. Afterwards they have a skating party. I’m a busy person. I’m not interested in skating parties. Why can’t they hold the meetings at the school gymnasium like normal PTA’s? On the other hand, our PTA sends out very informative and usually timely newsletters. I do appreciate that. My husband and I both pay our membership dues every year even if we don’t attend meetings.

12

I quit attending PTA meetings when, after nearly a decade of active attendance, I finally realized that the meetings and group had little more to do than fund-raise. The groups (note the plural usage) had little to do with education or meeting the needs of our children; our input was given a patronizing nod from teachers and administration; and the whole thing was taking my time away from my home and children.

It saves me time, energy and frustration now to just wait for the next fundraising activity and simply write out a check.

13

I don’t have a child in school yet, but I do plan on being active in the PTA next year when my son starts kindergarten. Of course, I was the girl who joined every club in high school - I just love love meetings and fundraising and all that good stuff.

Although, I gotta say, I think that being involved in a more hands on sort of way, i.e. as a classroom volunteer, is one of the most rewarding things you can do. Right now, I help out in my niece’s kindergarten class one day a week, and I just love it! The teacher seems to really appreciate my help and the kids seem to benefit, since I spend most of my time with the more unruly students, so the teacher can concentrate on the rest of the class. Next year, I’ll be in the classroom two mornings a week and in the media center/computer lab the other three. I can’t wait :slight_smile:

Oh, Arnold, give your fiancee a great big hug and handshake from me. Since I started volunteering at the school, I have sooo much more respect for teachers. It’s probably one of the toughest jobs around.

14

My daughter is in a Pre K program at a public school I am on my way to my first PTA meeting but I was told that I shouldn’t go as my daughter is only in the Pre K class. What do you think?

15

Welcome to the Straight Dope, NClifton. I think you should start a new thread to discuss this because this one is 10 years old, and a lot of the people who participated in the original discussion aren’t around here anymore.