I guess it all depends on WHY you want teachers at meetings?

We dont try anything special, they are welcome to come, or to stay away.

We like them to do what they want, and personally I prefere my teachers spend their time preparing for classes and not coming to parent teahcer meetings. You can only do so much for your school on a public teachers salary. And if I had to choose, I would want their time spent on the classroom things.

They can make theri wishes known thru the teahcer rep, or thru the prinicpal, both of who come to each meeting. tahts what teacher reps are for, to represent the teachers becuase theri job is to teach and not to come to meetings to help make the parent group function, that is the job of the parents, imo.

We just held our Back to School Ice Cream Party and really wanted to get as many teachers and staff members to come out as possible in order to provide an opportunity for many parents and children to meet their new teacher in a fun atmosphere. Being that we were holding the event from 3pm - 5 pm, which overlapped the ending of their day by 1/2 hour we hoped that some might find their way out, but again they can't be forced. So what we did this year was obtain numerous donations, such as a teacher planner, automatic stapler, gift cards, calculator, and much more. We also created a coffee break basket as well through donations. These two baskets were displayed in the main office for a couple of weeks prior to the event, with an explanation that we would be rafflinf it off at 4 PM for any staff members who were present. In the end around 3/4 of the staff were in attendance and we had them all come up to the DJ area when it was time to hold the raffles. We introduced them all as well, plus they had name tags.

The only drawback that I saw was that the moment the drawing was complete they herded right back into the school. So it definitely was the catalist to get them to attend the event, but I need to revamp it so they stick around at least until 4:30. Maybe next year I'll raffle one off at 4 PM and then the better one at 4:40.

So, the idea is that something of this nature might work for "luring" teachers to the meetings. Imagine having a basket such as these in the main office with a notice explaining that this will be raffled off to the staff members at this next Wednesday evening's PTO meeting. Once there they may jump in and get involved a bit, which then may brush off on others through word of mouth.

Anyway, good luck,
PresidentJim

I think its also a great way of having the teachers know how much we do consider and try to plan ahead for their school activities. They also see the struggles first hand of what we cannot do since we have a lack of volunteers. One event we were not going to do, but the teachers ended coming back (after hearing we were lacking volunteers) and offered to help.

So having just one teacher there to report back is a great way to have communication going between teachers and the PTO

We do this also oneandonly. For each monthly meeting the teachers sign up from each grade level and report back at their staff meetings. Or bring ideas whichever the case may be. It works great this way.

Ask your principal to obtain a teacher liaison from the staff to attend each meeting. they can rotate month to month, or split the year in half. It could be a part of their Administrators Training if any are completing that.

They would attend, pass along info & comments from the teachers and then report back the PTO responses, their plans, etc. They would be the go-between person. It has worked wonderfully in our school and we have had additional teachers attend our meeting s to extend their personal thanks for what we did for their class or grade level. We also have more interaction than ever before with the teachers.

Parents are your main target for attendance since they are your workforce and supporters. However, Teachers are your eyes, ears and voice of what is needed and wanted in the school.

Last year, our teacher representation was pretty much non-existant. I was elected P in April. I asked a teacher that I just adore to be a teacher representative. I think the key is to ask them to be involved, not wait for them to come to the meetings. I also told her that while ideally I would like her at the meetings, I would be happy if she just wrote down the teachers/ideas and input. To me, even though we're a Parent/Teacher Organization, it's more important for them to give 110% to our kids in the classroom. I do want their help and input so we can work together, that's why as long as I have a report from the teachers...I'm happy.