The Power of the PTA

Last week, I posted a link to a NYT article, which showed that the PTAs in middle class neighborhoods can be incredibly effective in fund raising. Some PTAs have gathered enough money to pay for teachers and smart boards and other big ticket items. It's more than just bake sales, people.

On Friday, Steve and I are going to a fund raiser for Ian's school. We've already spent $200 on the tickets, and since it's a casino night, I expect that we'll have to plop down more when we're there. That money goes to yoga instruction, smart boards, and monthly field trips.

I asked whether the PTAs increase school inequality. And other bloggers chimed in to discuss their experiences. Please read GeekyMom, Jackie, and Elizabeth. An excellent conversation.

These fund raising efforts are just one way that the middle class has a huge advantage in education. Reading to kids, having books available, taking them to museums and sports activities, talking to them and imposing bed times also mean that the average kindergarten student from a suburban, middle class home is leap years ahead of their poorer peers.

What to do about this? Clearly, we can't prevent middle class parents from donating money to their schools or from reading bedtime stories to their tots. Efforts to level down schools to create equity are stupid politically and morally. But at the same time, we just can't have such a disparity in our schools. If government is providing a service, it has to be the same service for everyone.

Slight tangent -- My buddy, Suze, were comparing teaching literature/writing with teaching political science. I preferred teaching politics, because even though there were more lectures and current events to deal with, the grading burden was lighter. I would rather write lectures than grade papers. She just finished her student teaching in an urban school, where the class time was spent writing papers and reading the books -- very little direct instruction. In suburban classrooms, they expect the reading and paper writing happens at home, so class time involves other projects. That means that the suburban kids get twice as much instruction as the urban kids.

We have two tracks of education in this country. A school in one town is a completely different entity than a school in another town. 

When I first got thrown into the special education world three years ago, I was shocked to learn that it was nearly a full time job dealing with it all. I asked a more experienced friend, "how does someone with less resources than myself deal with all this?" She told me that I didn't have the luxury to worry about other kids, shut up, and just worry about my kid.

Comments

[stranger]

Our district is upper-middle class. They do not expect paper writing to take place at home, at least in grades 4-6. The rumor is, they suspected that too many parents were too involved in their kids' homework, to put it charitably. Our district also does not put a great deal of faith in direct instruction. Lots of class time is spent on group projects. They were also reading texts out loud, and spending time writing compositions in class. It's partly due to the Columbia Teacher's College Writer's Workshop model.

I suspect that different schools are more alike than we think. Yes, suburban schools are more likely to have experienced teachers. Urban schools can be more difficult to teach in. However, the administrators in suburban schools also feel that their ability to enforce discipline in the classroom is constrained, mostly by the fear of parents filing suit. [A tip from a relative who teaches: lots of bad behavior is swept under the rug by school administrators. If you want a bully to stop physically attacking your child, you may need to file a report with the police.]

I doubt the utility of smart boards, yoga instruction, and monthly field trips. Laptops are an enormous money sink. So yes, middle class PTAs may raise money, but they aren't able (or willing) to spend it in ways which would help students. I'd suggest the following. Sets of textbooks for classrooms, so students can keep a book at home. Money to compensate teachers for after school tutoring sessions, open to all. A classroom supply account, so that teachers can buy pencils or paper at will.

I feel that PTAs which raise money should spend it to benefit the schoolchildren, not the administration. It would be wonderful if they would raise money to cover the activity fees for all children for extracurricular activities, sports, music, chess club, etc. There are children in the middle class districts who are not receiving an equal education, because their parents aren't able to keep up the spending war with wealthier neighbors.

[jen]

Reading to kids, having books available, taking them to museums and sports activities, talking to them and imposing bed times also mean that the average kindergarten student from a suburban, middle class home is leap years ahead of their poorer peers.

What to do about this?

I just don't see how a school district is supposed to do anything about a family that doesn't enforce consistent bedtimes. Frankly I don't see where any of this is really about school at all, nor is it about equality of opportunity. This appears to be about equality of outcome.

[Wendy]

In Outliers (I know--I don't know why this book sticks with me), Gladwell says that year-round schooling is better for kids from economically depressed (usually urban) areas. The more time they spend in school, the better off they are. I would like to see a longer school day with more study hall time (and more recess time). I'd also like to see school start later.

My son is already saying that school is boring and the only things he likes are recess and gym. *sigh*

[landismom]

Last night when my daughter was doing her homework, she explained to me that she was using a paper protractor because the school couldn't afford to buy a plastic one for every student. I can afford to buy my kid one--hell, I could afford to buy one for everyone in the class--but I'm afraid that this kind of budget restraint is a sign of worse to come as the recession's impact lingers.

[Laura/Geekymom]

@jen it's true that schools may not be responsible for everything that contributes to learning (good or bad), but they can go a long way to try to educate parents. I know in a rural school we were in once, at the first meeting before kindergarten began, the teacher said, "8:00 is bedtime." There were many mumbles around the room and some kids saying they went to be at 10:00. Our kids actually went to be at 7:00 still at that point.

@Wendy--I just read Outliers and Freakonomics--both point out the need to substitute the kinds of things middle-class parents do automatically for lower-income families. Longer school days, one-on-one tutoring, etc. In places where they've done things like that, the results are great.

[SwitchedOnMom]

We have schools in our system that support their own school foundations! Check http://www.pyleeducationfoundation.org/