If its open information - why would it not be OK to publish specific details?? You are beholden to the members and have a responsibility to make information easily accessable and esy to understand??

If the members dont like the fact that 1500 per author or 6000 overall is spent on authors then members have a right and repsonsibiltiy to have their voices heard, or change the policy

Perception -- if people think things are bieng sugarcoated or hidden then they might as well be, becuse that's what its percieved as...

An uniformed and uneducated member in affairs and matters of the group cannot make informed and educated rational decisions without it (data and information).

I like the idea - the funds are voted on by the members and spent how the membership deems neccessary - if non mmebers, admin, community dont like the way funds are spent, they should join and make their vocies heard, otherwise not a member too bad, soo sad=- i think is how it goes.

At last nights meeting, it was discussed that each month in our news letter we should give a fact from the treasurer in an attempt to keep parents informed as to what the PTO pays for. I am behind this idea, but feel some topics should be generalized as to not stir up problems. Such as - When we have an author visit, it costs a lot of money (going rate is around $1,500). Parents are always pleased with the visits and rave about them, but some would be upset to know how much each gets paid as oppossed to knowing we spend $6000 a year on programs. Also, our district has a history of bad feelings between teachers and community members about salary/taxes and strikes - so to publicize "we just spent $XX on Teacher Appreciation Week" might not be the best idea. We are an open book and publicize our budget and have monthly budget updates. One mom in attendance seemed to feel I was being dishonest. Am I?