Well, we voted to be a PTO. Thanks for the input. We voted tonight to be a District Wide Special Education PTO. Wish us luck!

All of your suggestions and valuable links are welcomed. Please send them my way.

Thanks again. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Michelle B...Believe me, my point was not to knock the PTA in any way. I was just trying to make the point that when Parent/Teacher groups of any kind get involved in politics it tends to cause problems because everyone does not agree on the same politics.

If I mis-stated anything I apologize. I was just trying to recall some of the heated debates that have gone on in these forums regarding the PTA and politics. I have read many posts where people did not like that they have no control over where some of their dues are going. I am sure you remember them better then me and you absolutely know the facts of the matter as it is something you are involved with which is not the case for me. I was just trying to make the point that when a group gets politicly involved it causes problems. You can't deny that the PTA has taken some hits and that some people have been unhappy about the PTA and politics.

The National PTA as a whole in this country has lost and continues to lose support and membership every year because it donates money to various political organizations. It has been the topic of conversation on these boards many times.

Not true at all. National PTA does not donate money to various political organizations. There have been organizations that some may consider political (the Anti-Semetic League for example) that National has worked with on various issues (for example anti-bullying) but organizations donate to us, not the other way around. Completely false!

Just last year there was some big heated discussions about the PTA in California supporting Gay marriages.

It was not the California PTA, it was a PTA unit in a specific city in California (the only unit in the entire State of California and in the entire US to have such a resolution) that adopted a resolution to oppose a constitution change. As a PTA member myself, I didn't quite agree, however if any individual unit finds that an issue falls within the purposes, there are no resolutions that would prohibit it (for example, Nevada State PTA has an official position that we have no position and so a unit could not adopt a resolution that would be in conflict) and the membership votes to approve the resolution, then they can do so. PTA units do operate independently and can adopt their own resolutions. This particular unit's resolution appears to support gay marriage but can also be viewed as only opposing changes to the constitution- it depends on who is spinning it and what they hope to accomplish from the spin.

National PTA's political activity- per the IRS rules for 501c3 status is that we can support a position (for example- NCLB and it's parent involvement clause) but not the candidate or person who sponsors it. It has been assumed that PTA supports a particular political party (depending on who is in office- Nancy Reagan was very involved in working with the PTA regarding Just Say No and President Reagan addressed the National PTA more than once- Tipper Gore worked on an Education across the nation issue with a National PTA President- and a jazz singer too but that gets lost in the spin...) but they officially don't endorse a party or candidates. Just the position.

After I posted my previous post I was thinking about something Tim touched on concerning what you want the function of your group to focus on.

I have to tell you in all honesty (and this is just my opinion) but I would be concerned about the motivation and agenda behind a parent/teacher group who focused on establishing themselves so they could back political candidates.

I want a parent/teacher group thats focus is made up of the things Tim spoke of : Involvement, community, and supporting the kids and the school.
I believe the politics should be left to us as individuals.

It's not entirely a bylaws issue.

If you decide to become a 501(c)(3), then you'll be prohibited from endorsing candidates by rule. 501c3s can work politically on issues -- for example, a 501c3 -- could actively advocate in support of a school tax override -- but can't actively suppport one candidate over another.

If your group wants to endorse candidates, then there are other legal structures you can apply for (forgetting the exact names, and I'm not expert on them), but I don't believe donations to such groups are tax-deductible, and there are obviously some significant other issues involved in that decision, as well.

I think the posters above captured the "should we or shouldn't we?" issues pretty well. I think you have to ask what your parent group is about. I believe a schoolwide parent group is best about building involvement and creating community in support of your school. And I believe that political activity can (almost inevitably will) get in the way of that goal.

Don't get me wrong -- I'm a big fan of political activism, just not as part of school parent group work. If there are candidates you want to support or issues you want to get loud about -- form a group focusing on those issues (or volunteer for the campaign commttee of the candidate) -- don't mix that up with the parent group, because the risk (infighting, less involvement, controversy) to the important work of your parent group is too great.

It's funny, jennytate, that members of your group want to "go PTO" in order to be more political. 99 times out of 100 -- it's the opposite.

Sorry to be so long-winded. Short answer = typically PTOs aren't allowed to endorse candidates either.

Tim

[ 06-06-2005, 11:06 AM: Message edited by: Rockne ]

Our by laws prohibit that. I am glad. We are a very small town and it could cause alot of problems. I would rather just stick with helping out the kids. There are lots of political orgs I could join.