No post today, because I have to go to a freakin’ PTA fundraiser tonight.
The local ladies, and it’s all ladies, are fundraising dynamos generating mucho cash for the school. They sell potted plants one day and carb-free pizza the other. I would rather just hand over a check at the end of the year rather than sell and buy tasteless pizza. Waste of everyone’s time.
I should probably join the PTA to get the inside scoop on the good teachers, but it annoys me that they are so unpolitical. They have no proposals for curriculum change or ideas for parents actually helping out in the classroom. The school administrators are pleased because the parents are busy hosting raffles, rather than getting in their hair. It totally grosses me out.
Tonight, I going to some gala tonight. The husbands were not invited, which also irks me. I don’t do chick-only events. I paid $50 for the seat and then I’m expected to blow a bunch more on raffles and crap.
I’m going to spend all my money at the cash bar.
Apt. 11d 
No spine, you got no spine.
Our kids’ day care is that way, constant nickel-and-dime crap events. We don’t do the dopey fundraising events, and we figure out our share of the fundraising target and write them a check.
This kind of crap is a major deadweight loss for everybody, where you spend your time doing stuff you’re not good at for a benefit to the school which is far less than you get paid per hour at work. Writing them a check is better for everybody.
We did get rid of one of our worst wedding gifts (‘crystal clock d’arque’) – which we were pretty sure had been regifted a couple of times before it came to us – by donating it to the Auction.
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Okay my kids are at charter school for precisely the reasons you state.
I know charter schools get a bad rap as an arm of the right wing, but we all aren’t that way.
Ours is based on a project based, expeditionary learning. We rely heavily on parents. Parents and teachers run the school together. We have a voice in everything-from hiring teachers and to running the lunch program. If a parent has an idea it’s given equal weight with professional educators.
One of the first things the parents did is adopt a “no asking our kids to sell stuff.” No wrapping paper, no candy, no nothing. We have a fall campaign that we say “we need money” and parents either send checks or make pledges. We have an auction in the spring that is very informal and parent run. It is actually lots of fun.
It’s a different world when you don’t have to worry about the district and you can actually try new and innovative ideas. Sometimes those ideas fall flat on their face, and other times it turns out great.
Since we are a public school we have a lottery for available openings. We have over 300 on our waiting list. Our school serves 200 students k through 8. We have twice the number of special ed students as the district, we also are ahead of the district with gifted and talented, and are at about 26% free and reduced lunch. We serve a wide diversity of learners and people from socio-economic backrounds.
The best thing is though that we are all there because we believe in educating children this way. We are a tight group and I think it will break my heart when my last child goes to high school and we leave this school.
We shouldn’t be rare, there should be more schools like us. People should be able to see lots of different faces of public education.
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Welcome to the world of underfunded schools, with parent associations — well, in my neck of the world the SAHMs are bright, aggressive women who are a little defensive about the SAH part so they are hyper about the school fundraising part.
Personally I am with Dave S., but you also miss out on some of thte context you need if you don’t participate. I just hate the timewasting part — the fluff.
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This is hilarious – she doesn’t do fundraisers!
http://workingmotherbacktalk.blogspot.com/2006/04/i-dont-volunteer-for-pta-activities.html
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