Seattle Schools Community Forum: PTA Fundraising and Spending; Let's Talk

Seattle Schools Community Forum: PTA Fundraising and Spending; Let's Talk

PTA Fundraising and Spending; Let's Talk

A really informative article from The Atlantic on PTA fundraising.  Wonder if the new Board make-up, what with a former president of the SCPTSA and a former SCPTSA Board member, might have the courage to tackle this one.  But there is not just an "opportunity gap" but this:

A 2017 report from the left-leaning Center for American Progress found that of the roughly $425 million that America’s PTAs collectively raise each year, about a tenth is spent at schools attended by just one-tenth of 1 percent of the country’s students.

I also note that the district loves the money that flows into the district from PTAs because it certainly helps their bottom line.  Does the state fund education so that each teacher is not going into their own pocket to have the supplies/resources they need? No and neither does the district in turn.

SPS may have done nothing about PTA spending because there is so much money flowing to the district that it would be noticeable at JSCEE if it were curtailed.

 For example, the district likes it when PTAs do landscaping maintenance.  Bless the hard work of parents out there toiling but it then allows the district to hire fewer landscaping crew members.  The district likes it when PTAs replace carpeting because that's more money for other purposes.  (I recall when my CONTINUE READING: Seattle Schools Community Forum: PTA Fundraising and Spending; Let's Talk