Parent-Teacher Association Totally Explained

Everything about Parent-teacher Association totally explained

Parent-Teacher Association, aka PTA, Parent-Teacher-Student Association, aka PTSA and the Parent-Teacher Organization, aka PTO are the names of a voluntary organization bringing together parents, teachers, and sometimes students within a particular school or school district, usually for fund-raising, building parent involvement and community at school and other activities relating to the welfare of the school. PTAs are known to operate in the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom and also in some other Commonwealth countries.

United States

There are nearly 23,000 local organizations recognized by the National PTA in the United States. and therefore correctly termed official PTAs. The generic term "PTO" is used to refer to either all parent-teacher groups (regardless of affiliation) or (more often) to just independent parent-teacher groups, who choose not to be affiliated with the National PTA. Roughly 75% of U.S. parent-teacher groups are independent groups (PTOs).
The National PTA is a non-profit organization that's 111 years old (founded 1897), with membership open to anyone who believes in the Mission and Purposes of National Parent Teacher Association [NationalPTA]. Every person who joins a local PTA automatically becomes a member of both the state and National PTAs. PTA membership - including the number of affiliated units and of individual members - has been declining for several decades. The group boasted more than 12 million members as recently as the late-1960s; whereas today membership is down below 5.5 million.
At the local level, the goal of all parent-teacher groups is to support their schools, encourage parent involvement, support teachers, organize family events and the like. PTOs and PTAs are able to take advantage of a variety of resources to help them with their work. Both the National PTA web site and a for-profit resource site (www.ptotoday.com) have resources (articles, programs, tips, forms, best practices) available for free for all parent-teacher groups. Both sites also offer additional resources to groups paying for services (PTA has member-only resources specific to operating a PTA and PTO Today has an added-value service called "PTO Today Plus".)

Popular culture

In the sixth season of The Simpsons, the 21st episode was titled The PTA Disbands. It originally aired on April 16, 1995. In a fourth season episode of King of the Hill, Peggy Hill remarks, "As a veteran of the PTA as both a 'P' and a 'T', I've read the Bible of parliamentary procedure, Roberts Rules of Order." In 1968, Tom T. Hall wrote the song "Harper Valley PTA", which provided the basis for a film and a television series. The premise of the song, film and series is single mother who "socks it to" the elitist and hypocritical members of the Harper Valley PTA. In Frank Sinatra's version of the Simon and Garfunkel song "Mrs Robinson" there's a line: "The PTA, Mrs. Robinson, won't OK the way you do your thing." In According to Jim, Cheryl mentions going to PTA meetings. In 1983, in the movie called Terms Of Endearment, starring Shirley MacLaine, Jack Nicholson, Debra Winger, and Danny Devito, Houston ISD Council of PTAs', an affiliate of National PTA, officers and their local PTAs worked as extras. In a first season episode of The Family Spell, a character attempts to join the PTA at Newport Union, only to discover its made up entirely of men, and their unwilling to let women join.

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