President's Message

October 2008

By Patty Christiansen, President

Stay Focused on the Children

When my five sons were young, I was always counting heads. When we would go on an outing to the park, the beach or the mall, I was constantly straining my neck to see them. For their safety, as a prudent mom, I knew that I could not take my eyes off my children. I always needed to keep my focus on them.

PTA is much the same. As PTA leaders, our job is to keep our focus on the children. As we plan and prepare during this school year, it is important to keep our eyes on the children. Strain your neck a little, and ask these questions:

Is the PTA event that we are planning focused on the needs and desires of our school children?

Have we taken the time to really look at the needs of the children in our school, and then set goals to fill those needs?

Do we continue to host programs because the PTA leaders like them, even if the children have lost interest?

Talk to the principal, the teachers, other school staff and, yes, the students to learn about the needs and interests of the children and what you can do to address those.

Sometimes, in our eagerness to provide everything we can for our children, we overstep the bounds of our organization. At the time of this writing, our state legislators have yet to pass a State Budget. Some of the proposals under discussion would include serious budget cuts for schools.

In years of budget crisis, our school administrators sometimes ask PTA to replace some of the funding that the State of California did not provide. It is a natural reaction for principals to ask and for parents to want to help, but PTA leaders should be cautious. Remember that it is the responsibility of the California State government to provide adequate funding for our schools. And keep in mind: a thousand fundraisers will never provide the funds that one good law will provide!

Many PTA budgets do provide funds as gifts to the school site. Perhaps your unit PTA funds the school field trips or assemblies. Maybe you provide the money for the art appreciation program or the science lab equipment. While it is important for PTAs to support their school sites, it is also important to keep our focus on all of the children.

A simple guideline is the PTA “3 to 1 Rule,” which says that PTAs should provide three programs or events for every one fundraiser that they host. Take inventory of everything your PTA provides for your school. Make a list of all the events and programs for which you provide volunteers, as well as the events and programs for which you provide funding. Then, make sure that your PTA is directing its focus on children.

At each of your monthly PTA meetings, please take the time to zero in on the needs of the children at your school. Concentrate on evaluating your PTA programs and events; do they meet the needs of your students?

It is not too late to reexamine your PTA plans and take aim in a new direction. Do it now! Focus on the children!