Comments on: Why I'm Mad at the PTA

By: Sunni

Sunni — Wed, 06 May 2009 19:38:19 +0000

Don’t know how I ended up at this blog. BUT! Let’s face it teachers are paid too little. And we ask too much. The PTA is an organization made to support the public schools and give parents a voice on behalf of their children. If you don’t like what the PTA does or how it spends it’s money you pay to be a member and you go VOTE. If you want more supervision at recess you get a committee together and raise funds for that cause. Find other people who support your idea and they can be paid, voting members of your PTA as well!

By: Mom&Teacher

Mom&Teacher — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 01:44:03 +0000

I work at a school where the PTO is a wee bit different…in fact they planned a shopping trip on a school day thus making it a “Parent Organization” not a Parent-Teacher-Organization!! Anyhoo…that is a different story in and of itself!!

My principal has 3 of us on duty at ALL times no matter how small the crowd ~ of course if I take my crew out then I’m okay with 20!! AND if there are more than 90 kids, we add an extra person or two…so while we don’t have a requirement, common sense makes us realize that we do need a fair amount of people watching out for someone elses’ “babies”!

I would continue to pester the school to add adults to the recess rotation. The comment made to you about the union insisting on a 30 minute duty-free lunch is accurate in most districts but there are PLENTY of teachers in the building that can be rotated into recess duty. What about the teacher aides? They can help out too!! It is all about scheduling…

Safety first people…is that so wrong??

By: fozmeadows

fozmeadows — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 04:23:44 +0000

I suspect, when I have kids, that the only reason I might join the PTA is curiosity about the foibles of crazy people, as per the teacher/mother in Donnie Darko. Gotta get character fodder somewhere.

By: Kimp

Kimp — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 16:59:14 +0000

We were in half-day K at that same school and the playground ratio was my reason for moving on to another school. Also, the morning-drop off had a rule about “no parents allowed off the cement near the playground”. And yet there was only one woman out there with all those dozens and dozens of kids.

Why can’t a parent accompany their own kindergartener on to the playground in the morning before school starts? I asked. “Liability. We are not insured for that.”

The meaning being clear, “we are not insured, and we believe the risk of a child being–what? –hurt? maligned? abused? by a classmates’ PARENT is greater than a child being hurt by recklessness, bullying, or too many kids on the top of the slide.”

By: deborah

deborah — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 20:29:34 +0000

“there’s never been a problem?” pardon my french, but i call bull merde on that one. i will not elaborate, but i am still pissed.

By: latishaspring

latishaspring — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 21:46:30 +0000

so…back to that private school conversation maybe?

strange they have laws about ratios for daycare but not for kindergarten.

By: SwitchedOnMom

SwitchedOnMom — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 16:33:47 +0000

Just found your blog because we both tagged posts “pta.” Well done!

By: elewinnek

elewinnek — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 20:19:20 +0000

So much is wrong there. Not only does your PTA have ridiculous priorities, but it shouldn’t be up to individual volunteers to neglect their own family dinners in order to insure kindergartener’s safety anyway. You know that old bumper-sticker: “The world will only make sense when schools get all the money they need and the airforce has to hold a bakesale to buy a fighter-bomber.” Or something like that.
At the least, this means you can let go of guilt at not joining the PTA.

By: Robert Polk

Robert Polk — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 22:57:20 +0000

When that time arrives, my exceptionally close relative, a 1st grade teacher of some 30 years, exclaims, “I have to to go to P.T. frickin’ A.” Or something that sounds similar.

By: sari

sari — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 03:13:39 +0000

I’ve got a few PTA stories for you.