I have to say that this is a bad situation to be in...I would strongly recomend not putting your pto's name behind it. If you want as a generic group of parents get behind it then that would be one thing. But as a PTO you represent ALL families in your school and maybe just maybe there are some that don't support your feelings. Have someone come and talk about it at a meeting, have like a "town hall" meeting, keep your pto's name out of it...it could turn into a nasty political sitaution that you are sorry for.

Maybe I should clarify my response a bit further. We have never gone to the school board and presented ourselves as the PTO. Through the discussions we have held during meetings in relation to the topics of concern, we have organized groups of parents to attend school board meetings or make contact with the administration to present questions and opinions. We don't stand up and say "XY PTO is here to say that we want such and such." In discussions with administrators we may say that the topic was discussed at a meeting and parents voiced the following concerns/questions/opinions. We act more as a conduit for the flow of information.

I imagine it's pretty clear that we are speaking for the group, but we don't put ourselves out directly in that way.

I agree with Tim. I try to attend all school board meetings and we actually have 2 school board members on our PTO board as well. I never tell anyone that I am acting as PTO president when I get up and speak to the school board, but they know very well who I am. PTO is just one facet of who I am, but it is an important one also. I let everyone know that I am invovled in PTO for the good of the kids. But that's also why I get invovled in school board issues. I don't think the two can ever really be separated. If I won't get up and fight for the kids (and I'm the PTO President and that's exactly what we're there for) then who can I expect to fight for them?

There's a danger in letting the particular controversy color the underlying decision of whether your group should get involved in general terms with political controversies.

What do I mean?

I recommend that you break this into two separate discussions:

First, does your group want to have involvement in controversial political decisions (independent of the merits of this particular decison)? It's a fundamental question for your group. There's pros and cons to both sides of this and good groups can choose either one.

If yes, then your second discussion is on the merits of this particular issue.

If no, then the merits of this particular controversy are irrelevant for your PTO -- it's not the type of thing you do. The folks who want parent involvement on this issue still have other options. They could form an Ad Hoc group -- "parents opposed to so-and-so (POTSS) -- to get active on this particular issue. It would likely have a lot of the same members as your PTO, but it would keep your PTO out of the political fray, whcih can be an involvement detriment.

Can't hurt to discuss it.

Tim

Since when is it not the role of a parent/teacher organization to get active on an issue that is going to affect your children?

Our school district has had some controversial issues come up over the last few years and our PTO has taken the role of keeping the parents and teachers informed and providing opportunities for discussions. We have "rallied the troops" when needed to let the school board know the feelings of our parents. I think we've done a good job of not getting to carried away. We all felt that we might carry more weight speaking as a group instead of as individuals.

Maybe you should invite a school board member or school administrator to a meeting and let parents voice their opinions and ask questions. That was something that always worked well for us.

Take the issue to your membership! Ask them what THEY want. IF you find that the majority want to take a stand and become involved in the issue, then go for it.
Nothing is stoping you from at least letting your membership know that the PTO can support the will of the majority!!!!