rac76 - i love the idea about teacher participation in pto events 'The principal, does make them volunteer to help us with different events...' too bad they dont do it spontaneously, but hey, sometimes people need a little encouragement!!!! it means a lot to the kids to see teachers and other staff show up at events.

i have never seen a teacher at a PTO meeting. we have one teacher representative that attends, they sit on the committee. but i have never seen any other teacher at a meeting.

i guess they make their wants and needs known through some other avenue, because we do raise a lot of money for the school and it does get back to the kids and teachers. but if the teachers are really getting what they most need/want with parent monies, is unclear.

For us, we give the teachers a start up check of $75 at the beginning of the year for supplies. We kept the $2 membership level for the teachers, and we didn't get 100% membership. I find it a bit disappointing, that they will take the free money, and will not return the favor for a measly $2. Anyway, the teachers don't come to the meetings, we have the principal or the vice principal attend, which is fine. The principal, does make them volunteer to help us with different events, which is nice. This year we had some teachers on the board, and the only reason was because they have kids in the school. I do want to find a way to get the teachers more excited about the PTO, maybe I'll make a survey for them. I did one for the parents, which turn out okay..its always good to hear everyone's opinions.

We give each classroom teacher and resource teacher $250 a year with no strings attached. Our feeling is that they will use their best judgement in using the funds and it benefits our children. We have one staff representative at all board meetings and the staff handles the rotation for this duty. We're pretty fortunate in that many of our teachers attend our events and participate in fundraisers just because they appreciate what we do. (Admittedly, however, I'm sometimes a wee bit bitter that they don't make it more of a priority, but whenever we ask them to attend for a particular reason, they usually respond really well!)

Our thinking has always been that teachers must work at least 2 PTO events to get there money. BUT, after attending a PTO conference our eyes were opened and we gained a new understanding about how we were running things. Not that WE were doing wrong, it was handed down that way to us. We have decided to make alot of changes for next year where our teachers and staff are concerned. I would much rather have them come to an event with their family and enjoy the night, mingle with their parents and have a good time than to have to work the event, hate having to come back and do it and resenting everything PTO does because they think it means more work for them. I agree that the money they get goes to our children, they're not buying personal things with it. I've decided that it's not important how many parents or teachers are members of our PTO or how many attend our meetings. We have a good volunteer base for events and if we have great attendance at events than that's more important. And if our teachers can come and relax and have a great time with other families than that's just helping promote our mission. Giving our children a well rounded education is worth WAY more than the $100 they get from us........

At our meetings we usually have one or two attend. Our principal is usually there for most of the meeting and we average about 30 parents (this year anyway!! ) We are a Y5-5th elementary with a little over 500 students.

But more importantly, whenever we have an event with needed volunteers we have 50+% of both the staff (please note the custodial staff, secretaries are also around)and parents there. Do you really need 30 teachers and 500 parents at the meetings? I would surmise that with that many ideas for an event - it would be difficult to get it planned. Our PTO this year has been great. We have had so many parents come to meetings and it's not always the same people.

So, even though the teachers aren't coming to the meetings, are they coming to the events? Do they feel like they are a part of the volunteer base for events? Just my 2 cents!