Pioneering, Influential, yet Rife With Inequality, Can the PTA’s History Point Us Forward?

As We Navigate Today’s Educational Crisis, the Parent-Teacher Association Offers a Model of How Caregivers, Teachers, and Communities Work Better United

The past year has been like no other, in many ways. Consider the remote schooling of millions of children in the United States due to the coronavirus pandemic. Never in the history of American education since the 1890s, when our widespread system of organized, formal schooling developed, has the school entered the home in such a pervasive way. Parents and caregivers have gotten a firsthand look at the challenges teachers face daily in preparing lessons, conveying content, and assessing learning. Teachers have spent (virtual) time in their students’ homes and …

PTAs Are the Opposite of Community

How the Former Champions for All Kids Devolved Into Self-Serving Fundraising Machines

Here’s a quick quiz for anyone who has ever had kids or grandkids or nieces and nephews in school: Can you name all of the fundraising items you’ve purchased from …