What the PTA Spends
05 Mar 2009 14 Comments
Elizabeth wrote a post recently about PTAS and fundraising, a question floating around after a NYT article on PTA foundations and a quick post from Laura at 11d. The comments at Elizabeth’s are mentioning “auction moms” and the kinds of cliques that often spring up around fundraising, and are touching on the same issues that often arise with the SAHM vs. WOHM debates as well. Laura at Geekymom is also chiming in, as a former full-time worker now transitioning to more flexible work and maybe more school volunteering.
I’m trying to react to this question objectively, but it’s hard. I’ve posted before about my volunteer work at my girls’ school and how important it is to me. It’s hard to avoid feeling like other moms are slamming me for helping teachers, and hard not to feel catty for even phrasing it that way in return. It’s hard to avoid calling people naive who could actually say things like, “if we keep fundraising, schools will never make up the difference on their own,” or “Teachers shouldn’t pay for their own supplies, it’s unprofessional,” or even “Teachers are letting themselves be taken advantage of” (okay, those last two were the same person). It’s hard not to be angry at women who are criticizing what we “PTA moms” do and then say they don’t have to even go to the meetings, much less participate in any of the activities. It’s hard not to remember my mother, a public school teacher for almost 40 years, who routinely bought her own supplies, paid for kids to take SAT and AP exams, rarely missed a day of school and often inserted herself into hallway fights with no thought for her own safety, and think of her as “unprofessional”.
That’s before I even think about the fact that I’m volunteering at a school in one of the worst-performing urban districts in the country, which means one of the worst-performing districts anywhere in the USA. We have aging buildings in a city with notorious crime, poverty and health issues– remember the fourth season of The Wire? Granted, my girls’ school is in one of the wealthier areas, but the middle school in the same building is a city-wide magnet, and when we raise money for window shades and ceiling fans, those students benefit too. Not only that, but we deliberately live in this city, with property taxes almost double those of surrounding counties, and those property taxes add to the city schools budget as well.
So while I understand the concerns about educational equity, and I have rarely ever been on the inside of a social clique, I refuse to apologize for spending unpaid hours and untold dollars to contribute to a public urban school that’s giving my daughters an excellent education, free of charge.
Mar 05, 2009 @ 08:23:25
So, a couple of things. We’ve always ended up in these relatively wealthy school districts and in those areas, I do think the area could fully fund the schools from taxes; however, I have watched people at the voting booth (I work the polls) hem and haw over a .5% tax increase to fund schools. Most come down on the side of “I don’t have kids, so screw it.” Sigh. So I understand why schools don’t get funded and that pisses me off because it’s usually short-sighted. I sense, but don’t know for sure, that in my current district, much of the PTA money goes to extras and isn’t filling much-needed gaps. And so it’s not like the kind of work you’re obviously doing where the school really needs volunteers and fund raising.
I guess I feel that I wish that work were more visible and that more people were aware that this work was being done because the schools were underfunded. Maybe that would help ease the gap; I don’t know.
And I’ll also say that I have a general reluctance to be a “joiner”–this goes way back–and so I’m trying to overcome that. I feel completely awkward when I go to things and don’t know anyone, and I feel guilty, too, that I haven’t participated more so that I do know people. Also, I think I’m aware that the schools my kids are in are well funded and while they almost always need volunteers for special events, I don’t see a lot of call for more direct aid for the basics, and so I lack motivation to help because I feel assured that my kids are getting what they need at school. If that makes sense.
Mar 05, 2009 @ 08:36:48
Wow, I can’t even comment on Elizabeth’s post, the other comments make me so angry. My kids go to the poorest school in town. I coordinate cultural enrichment, which is funded by the PTO–our largest line item. We bring in plays, dance, science workshops–stuff that many of our kids would never encounter if we didn’t do it. We also fund 5th grade graduation, redecorating the teacher’s room, money for each teacher to spend on extra supplies (or, really, whatever they want), science club, arts & crafts club, the all-school play.
Yes, it would be dreamy if taxes could pay for all that, but they don’t. And, at this point, they won’t. We’re fighting not to cut teachers–how can I say tax funds should go to the school play instead of teachers? But I want my kids to have a school play–and even more than that, I want the other kids, whose parents can’t afford to sign them up for children’s theater, to have a school play.
I’m also on the board of our town’s educational foundation. We are funding basically all, yes, ALL, the professional development that is happening in our town this year. Do I wish we didn’t have to exist? Yes. But this is the reality, and I am totally committed to public education.
Does it piss me off that the rich schools make so much more money than us and want to spend it on new playgrounds? Yes. Do I think the PTOs should pool their funds, at least to some extent? Yes. But there are other ways to create equity–like just that: pooling funds–than just saying we shouldn’t be doing this.
(Man, this topic clearly gets people started–look at the length of these comments! But, once again, Jackie, I think you and I are on the same page!)
Mar 05, 2009 @ 10:51:30
Yeah, I started to write a response on Elizabeth’s blog, but it turned into a post of its own too. I’m glad that you volunteer. I’m glad that you keep your kids in a public school district that so many middle- and upper-middle-class people have given up on. I’m glad that you help with fundraising.
Mar 05, 2009 @ 20:02:11
Laura– I see your points, absolutely. Your stories about people at polling places strikes at the heart of the larger debate about taxes and what their purpose is, which goes beyond public schools and into the basic differences between Democrats and Republicans, right?
Becca– our PTA money funded assemblies this year too, plus teacher supplies, redecorating the teacher’s room, etc. We had an African dance night, a movie night, and we buy academic planners each school year for each student in our middle school, most of whom would not otherwise have them. We bought ceiling fans for the multipurpose room because our school isn’t air-conditioned, and the PTA also did a multiyear campaign to renovate the gym. I would love it if my tax dollars had stretched to pay for all that, but I certainly would not rather the improvements never have happened at all.
Thanks, landismom– one PTA mom to another
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Mar 05, 2009 @ 20:54:33
Loved this post, Jackie. It’s something that I’m probably going to want to talk more about in the next couple of years, as it’s looking more and more likely that we’re going to stay in Brooklyn and any future kids will be going to New York City public schools. I believe strongly in the system and in the PTA, but as of right now it’s more in theory than in practice.
Mar 05, 2009 @ 21:53:35
I would bet my life that you would never be one of those cliquish PTA moms. Particularly in an urban school district. It’s just not you, Jackie.
Cliquish PTA moms are the sort that want volunteers but then make you feel like you’re not as cool as they are when you DO volunteer. Or that “you’re doing it wrong” — to borrow a line from the movie Mr. Mom.
Mar 05, 2009 @ 22:14:12
I’ve been on both sides here, I think. The PTA at my kids’ elementary school was very active, very clique-ish, and very effective. They raised a lot of money and used it for good things, things that I wish taxes would fund but didn’t. This was a good school in a poor district, and the PTA is part of what keeps some wealthier (relatively) families involved, which is good for everyone.
But right now their biggest fundraiser is an art auction for which I can’t even really afford tickets. I have never gone, never bid on an item, never been involved. I hate it. And I’d guess that over half the parents at the school can’t find a way to be involved. The second biggest fundraiser is a community-wide festival, with bouncy castles and duck ponds, cheap food and a lower-rent silent auction. Over the years I’ve been part of that one many times, and I’m glad they still do it. But I fear that we’re moving towards just doing the big-ticket art auction, and I just don’t see that as community-building in the right way. So I’m torn.
(Maybe I’ll go check out the other posts/comments now; I’ve been skimming most of my feeds this week…)
Mar 06, 2009 @ 00:01:12
So many good comments above. Like others, I don’t want to see what my kids’ school would be like without the hard work the PTA puts into it, and I usually find that the other parents involved are welcoming to anyone who can help.
However, Libby’s experience with the expensive art auction is one we have here, too. The hard part is that they auction off the kids’ art, and so the kids really pressure parents to attend. The PTA also rewards classes for having 100% parent attendance at the auction, which means kids feel like they’re letting their classmates down if their parents can’t afford tickets. The end result is a lot of money for the school, but awkward and sometimes painful conversations about money with our kids.
Mar 06, 2009 @ 04:24:10
Libby and Amy– our school does an “Affordable Auction” and that’s also one of the events I don’t participate in, because I know I would just be consumed with envy! But what’s up for auction is stuff donated from the community, not kid art, and I don’t feel any exclusion or pressure re: attendance. We also do a May festival that is like a neighborhood carnival.
For me, I rarely have fun in large crowded events– that’s why I prefer the smaller ways of contributing. I think community-building is one of the most important functions of the PTA, and it is truly sad that some groups are forgetting that aspect of their mission.
Anjali, thanks for the compliment
. Cliques are such objects of terror for me, that it would break my heart to think of myself as belonging to one!
Mar 06, 2009 @ 16:26:12
I volunteer and fundraise for my kids school – and I’ll keep doing it! It makes a difference. But it still makes me feel guilty, because I suspect most of the schools in Sydney (Australia) need my time and money more. But I still give the time and money to my kids school.
So the socialist in me wants to reduce the amount of money my kids school gets from the government in recognition of the extra ability of the parent body to contribute. But the parent in me is very glad that not only can my kids go to a great school with great teachers, the parent body can afford to fundraise for an even better experience at the same time.
I certainly wouldn’t criticise any teacher or parent for contributing, but I do wish that the children in poor districts, who are fully entitled to a public education, could get the same level of support that my kids get.
Mar 06, 2009 @ 19:28:41
penguinunearthed, I wish that also. One of the projects our PTA does is to support (with fundraising and materials) the libraries of a few other public schools in our city that do not have the kind of active PTA we have. Our PTA has also been very active in recent protests and actions in our city to protest the inequities in funding and to advocate for all schoolchildren in our city to get a better education. I wish we could do more too.
A good example of these kinds of conflicts is the website DonorsChoose.org. There are a lot of public school teachers on that site with great ideas and enthusiasm for teaching, but it’s tragic to think that public begging is the only way some of their projects will ever make it off the ground.
Mar 07, 2009 @ 10:19:07
It isn’t necessarily that they don’t have active PTAs – their active PTAs just can’t raise so much money because no one at the very poor schools have any money. Our PTA works hard, and are very helpful (They make a lot of copies for me! My husband’s middle class school district has staff to help teachers with that) but they will never be able to raise the money that the PTAs in middle class and wealthy schools raise. Also, in middle class and wealthy schools, a teacher can just do a good job teaching, contribute a little bit to supplies, etc. and go home and have a reasonable life with a family and all, as much as anyone can in our culture of work-work-work. In very poor schools, teachers are expected to be 24-7 saints and magicians who will solve the systemic problems of an underfunded education system by neglecting our own families and spending all of our time and money on our students. It really isn’t fair, and it won’t work. Systemic problems require systemic solutions. I do think pooling PTA monies sounds like a great idea – I am quite sure it doesn’t happen here.