Conversations about School PTA's

Sorry I’ve been away for so long! Life is busy, as you know if you are a parent and working full-time. For those of you who attended the “Partnership for Student Success”, thank you so much for making the conference such a success! You all are such a wealth of information yourselves.

I want to share with you where I have been in the last few weeks, both as a parent and as a professional. At the conference, I learned many things from people who attended. There are so many of you - black, white, Asian, Hispanic, Native American who have such great hopes for your students and for your schools. I am glad to hear that, in spite of the struggles, there is still hope. I am glad to hear that so many parents are still eager to advocate for their children and still believe they can have a voice.

Working as the director of CISL has given me the opportunity to hear from so many different sectors of our state population. There are some regions where parents feel highly supported in their schools and some regions where parents feel like aliens in a strange land. There are some districts where the PTA groups are thriving and meetings are full and effective and other districts where parents are not finding ways to engage in their students’ school communities. There are some schools that have begun to think out of the box and others who do not seem to have a clue why parents should be involved in school beyond parent-teacher conferences and choir concerts.

It was a conversation with a mother from a small town near Bremerton who really got me thinking… She challenged a statement I made at the conference about my previous experiences with PTA. She didn’t like what she perceived to be a negative tone about the models of PTA I had seen in the urban communities where I had lived and worked. Her PTA was thriving and involved parents and grand-parents, educators and community members. She could not understand the possibility that PTA was not working everywhere.

As much as I would love to see PTA organizations thrive in my community, I haven’t seen a model like this yet. Although I have paid my dues and have attended all the PTA meetings this year at my children’s school, I was still seeing an absence of people of color, as I had in my 8 years of as a public school educator. I was still not seeing the value of PTA for the parents around me beyond raising money, even though there were so many other needs.

So, what is the answer to this dilemma? Was I just not involved enough? Was PTA a model that only worked in middle class white environments? What could I do to make the PTA better for my family and for other families?

Coincidentally, the subject of PTA came up in four different venues in my professional and personal life. At a high school parent night, I met the PTA president from a predominantly African-American high school. She shared glowing reports about the work of her PTA and the many opportunities parents had to volunteer in her school in a variety of ways. I was in awe! If it was working for her, how could we recreate this success in other schools?

In three other meetings, I spoke with parents of color and white parents alike who experienced rejection from the parent involvement groups at their schools. Several parents felt there were language barriers. Other parents were unable to attend meetings because of the time commitment, so could not figure out a way to plug in. One parent mentioned that her sexual orientation became a hindrance for her in the way other parents in the group treated her and her child.

With all of these experiences swirling through my head, I decided to commit myself to studying different models for parent involvement that are working here in Washington State. I want to visit flourishing PTA groups, as well as groups like the Multicultural Advisory Committee (in North Thurston) and develop a list of the elements that are working in different communities. I would also like to celebrate those programs and events that are successful, so you can each pull from these experiences the elements you think apply to your community. My thinking has transformed. In the words of Dr. Hunt, a family involvement expert and visitor in our office just last month, “It’s not the problem that counts, it’s the solution.”

I want to make an effort as the director of CISL but also as the parent of three, to share what I hear about the successes of others and hope this will help you in your quest. I know I am not in this alone. I am also aware that what works in one place may not work for another place, but I hope in all the suggestions, you will find something that works for where you are.