OMG! Am I a pot stirrer or what? I didn't mean for this to be a 'slam the PTA' party. Let's all stop this and remember that the point was "We are ALL in it for the kids". PTO vs PTA? PTA vs PTO? There are some distinctive differences on the administrative and monetary levels. Some of those differences are good, some are not, depending on which side of the coin you are looking at. Is it enough difference to slam each organization over? For the Love Of God, NO! The last thing I have to say on this issue? Stop The Insanity!

PTA leader said that: "With the PTA, I get all my manuals and books for FREE. "

I have to agree with Tim that PTA leader has a funny way of defining free. The group sends the PTA hundreds or thousands of dollars and in return they get one subscription to a magazine and a manual. That's not free. Just my $0.02.

By the way, two years ago (before the big dues increase), our then-PTA group had to pay exactly $682.50 out in state and national dues. If I'm doing my math right, today that would be $892.50.

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>PTA Leader: The PTA offers quite a bit of information and resources for that amount.<hr></blockquote>

The quality of what you get varies by location. I have been underwhelmed by the support and services provided by my state PTA. I can only think of one experience as frustrating as dealing with my state office: the parent who stuck all the checks for bike helmets in the box with the unsold helmets, and then put the box in storage.

The flip side of that coin is that I'm very pleased with my local council. I will admit that I wonder if their service level would decline without state and national PTA behind them. However, as long as PTA membership is a requirement to be part of the council, I will support my school remaining a PTA.

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>PTA Leader: Of course they also lobby on behalf of the best interest for children in the State and National government.<hr></blockquote>

I doubt you will find anybody who would argue with the statement "they lobby in the state and national government." However, there are those who would debate with you the validity of the clause stating "on behalf of the best interest for children." I'm not necessarily saying that I disagree with any particular postion taken by the national PTA, but there are certainly those who do. Let me just reiterate a question asked in a previous discussion of this topic: can you give me one example of a lobbying position taken by the PTA that was opposite of the lobbying position taken by the NEA?

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Babs0616: I have come from an area that has a PTA to an area that has a PTO.I can't believe the problems that it has. <hr></blockquote>

Being a PTA does not exempt a group from being poorly run. The state and national governance requriements that local PTAs have by-laws, review them regularly, and present them for approval, means that the average PTA is much more likely to have viable by-laws than the average PTO. However, that does not guarantee that the by-laws will be followed.

Some time back, somebody pointed out that the majority of the embezzlement cases on the "Latest News" page were PTOs. Their claim: being a PTA helped protect against this. The next several stories posted, some including amounts far in excess of the typical amounts, happened to ALL be PTAs!

My example of the bike helmet checks is certainly nothing for our PTA to be proud about. I tried to push through a rule that anybody collecting money for the PTA needed to turn it over to the treasurer within 72 hours of the end of the event. I may not be the most perceptive person in the world, but I could see that my effort was going to be defeated, so I didn't object when it was amended to two weeks. TWO WEEKS!

I think both organizations are doing great work. I think we are all doing the same thing, making our schools better for children. It just makes me angry when I see that nasty kind of line. I just wanted to say that we do love and care about children just like they do. It would never occur to me to think, much less say, that someone cares more for children than anyone else by virtue of what organization they belong to, or don't belong to as the case may be. It is just silly to believe that one group loves children more than the other. And even sillier to state it publicly.

I've been involved in four different parent groups these past years, both PTO and PTA and am currently the president of our PTO. Both organizations have had their bad points and good points. An organization is only as good as the people involved so the PTO or the PTA label doesn't guarantee perfection. Regardless of which organization your school chooses, the choice should ALWAYS reflect the opinion of the membership and I believe that is how this thread started. Let's can the PTO vs PTA issue and agree to disagree on which is better! :cool:

The people are the organization - the organization is NOT the people. Had the same people been a PTA do you really believe that things would be that much different? I do not believe that an acronym makes a group good, bad or indifferent.

And as a PTO exec member, chair of several committees, former Girl Scout leader, volunteer at church and school, and voted for the first time in history as "mom of the year" of my son's baseball league because of a "it needs to be done I'll do it or get it done attitude" (at least that's what I was told when they handed me an award)- I don't think that I care less about my own children or anyone else's because I voted for our school to be PTO instead of PTA. It was a financial decision and as a group we believed, as Metzy does, that the money would be better spent on our children and the children of our neighbors - for whom we care deeply - rather than on nameless faceless people.

I am perfectly capable of making things happen in my backyard, in my school, and in my government without one more lobbying organization to do so - that is why every time there is an opportunity to VOTE - a privilege that we have in this country - I do so.

. . . . stepping off my soap box now.