Mass PTA, State School Board and Controversy

Tough op/ed in yesterday’s Boston Herald on still-controversial PTA-dedicated seat on state board of education. As far as I know, Massachusetts (my home state) is the only state in country with such an arrangement for PTA, which is curious considering that Massachusetts schools are very nearly the least PTA-centric schools in the country (far, far more PTOs  than PTAs in the Bay State).

The article get a few items wrong, in my opinion, especially where it equates PTOs with bake sales and implies that local PTAs don’t do that kind of work.  Fact on that count is that local unit PTAs and local PTOs are virtually the same on the types of activities they run.  Both great and generous and enthusiastic supporters of their schools and kids.  This political bent is typically reserved for the state and national levels of PTA.

Will continue to follow this story.  Is surprising that the PTA appointee is implying that parents’ own voices should be over-ridden by those who supposedly know better.  That’s the kind of approach schools have taken for far too long and that parent involvement experts (the PTA among them) have been trying to change.  Hopefully, it was a mis-characterization of Ms. Kaplan’s point of view.