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PTA's Flawed Fla. Chapter Paul Weyrich The National Parent Teacher Association, or more commonly the PTA, conjures for many American adults fond memories of their parents attending parent-teacher conferences and baking cakes to help raise funds for the public schools that these adults as children attended. Fond memories are one thing, but the National PTA is quite another. The national organization and its state chapters have a distinct political agenda that only could be construed as "anti-parent" when it comes to assisting parents in choosing the schools their children should attend. The PTA position dovetails that of the National Education Association (NEA), the major teachers' union.
Americans must recognize that the PTA slogan of "Every Child. One Voice," should be translated to read "Every Child. No Real Choice" and that there are constructive alternatives to the PTA and its liberal agenda. Story Continues Below
Recently the Supreme Court of Florida struck down one of the state's school choice programs. Constitutional scholar Bruce Fein asserted that the Supreme Court of Florida deserved a dunce cap for this inaccurate interpretation of an amendment to the Florida State Constitution, which was approved in a voter referendum in 1998. The state Amendment called for a "uniform…system of free public schools that allows students to obtain a high-quality education."
Fein wrote that the chief proponent of the amendment had stressed that private schools would not be impacted by the amendment. Fein concluded that "the amendment sought uniform educational opportunity, not a public school monopoly of state funding to placate public employee unions."
Guess which organization sided with the NAACP and the NEA in opposing the voucher program that was challenged? The Florida PTA.
Fortunately, Gov. Jeb Bush, R-Fla., has vowed to fight to restore the voucher program and is considering the placement of a constitutional amendment on the Florida ballot.
The Florida PTA can take some credit for derailing a program that would have enabled many parents to improve educational standards and opportunities for their children. The Florida PTA agenda does not differ from that of the National PTA.
The National PTA states unequivocally that it "supports using public funds exclusively for public schools and opposes using tax dollars to finance education vouchers for private and religious schools. National PTA supports the United States' system of public education as the major vehicle for perpetuating the basic values of a democratic system of government." Such a policy position obviously is dismissive of the legitimate desire of many parents that schools reinforce religious values expressed at home and church.
The PTA dismisses the concern of many parents about the inferior quality of public schools and solely advocates public education. The PTA believes that voucher programs send "a clear message that we are giving up on public education, especially when those funds that may help a few are taking away resources for that could enhance teacher quality or provide books, computers, and safe and orderly schools for all students." [Emphasis in original.]
Rather than view school choice programs as a means to spur public schools to greater innovation, the PTA has adopted a defensive mentality to perpetuate the status quo.
Many public schools, such as the Florida system, are failing their students. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2005 report card on reading for Florida discovered that "In 2005, the average scale score for eighth-grade students in Florida was 256. This was not significantly different from their average score in 2003 (257), and was not significantly different from their average score in 1998 (255). Of the 52 states and other jurisdictions that participated in the 2005 eight-grade assessment, students' average scale scores in Florida were higher than those in five jurisdictions, not significantly different from those in 11 jurisdictions, and lower than those in 35 jurisdictions."
Such a report card should alarm voters as to the deficient status quo in Florida public education. Nonetheless, it should not be a surprise that the National and Florida PTAs have aligned with the NEA and its Florida affiliate to oppose school choice as also upon many other educational issues.
Char Haar, a leading critic of the NEA-PTA alliance, analyzed the organizations' co-dependent relationship in 1999 for the Texas Public Policy Institute. She reckoned that the "PTA has accepted its subordinate role; new members simply take it for granted that the PTA will be a support group for teachers and teacher unions."
Fortunately, parents do have alternatives to the PTA which is more concerned with pushing a left-wing agenda than in upholding common-sense values and allowing parents to make educational choices which best serve their needs.
One alternative would be to disband the PTA and form a Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) which is not associated with a national organization spending local money to pursue a liberal agenda. PTOs concentrate their effort where it has the most impact - working to improve the standards of, and opportunities in, local schools.
Washington Post Reporter Amit R. Paley wrote that PTA membership has decreased over 40 years from more than 12 million in 1963 to fewer than 6 million by 2003. A significant difference between the PTA and the PTO is that the PTO has no national structure. PTOs solely are concerned with local schools. In contrast, local PTAs subsidize the activities of state and local organizations, which may include lobbying against school choice. The price of participating in your child's local school should not include subsidizing a national lobbying organization that actively lobbies against the interest of many parents and children.
The PTA regards itself as the self-anointed defender of children. This organization does not appear to be that which it purports to be. Its anti-school choice agenda deprives many children from poor and working families of education outside public school systems which often are characterized by inefficient bureaucracy, poor discipline and poor results.
Many parents find that the public schools are failing to educate their children. Others want their children to be taught lessons compatible with the values they learn at home.
The PTA adheres to the NEA philosophy: more federal dollars for public education apart from meaningful results. That philosophy leads educational expert Chester Finn to complain that the PTA is "All T and no P indeed." There are effective alternatives to the PTA, such as the PTOs. Parents increasingly realize this and are opting out of the PTA.
Parents who genuinely are concerned about their children's education should not accept the National PTA agenda to maintain an educational monopoly. One good strategy would be to establish a PTO within the local school system even if it would mean disbanding the PTA chapter. Type "PTO" in as a search term and learn more about this parent and student friendly organization. Disbanding the local PTA chapter would be no loss to a local school system and would prevent the transfer of some PTA dues to the National and State PTA for their lobbying activities, such as opposing school choice programs. A consequence in many jurisdictions would be that a weakened PTA would permit creation of more meaningful educational opportunities, including parental choice.
Paul M. Weyrich is the Chairman and CEO of the Free Congress Foundation.
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