At the end of August, our school board approved and the teachers ratified a new two-year contract. The 1.9% salary reduction mandated by our state legislature was not passed down to our teachers. Kent School District, like many districts, pulled the money from somewhere else.
Hmmm . . . the first thing I thought when I read this was – "Great, more PTA fundraising." To say that fundraising is a challenge at my school would be an understatement. We are very small – hovering around 300 students – and are 70% low income.
As state and district and building and PTA budgets drop year after year, the pressure on our PTA to eliminate the "fun" programs continues. Things like having the Pacific Science Center visit are memories. Unless it's a free assembly or a "must-have" program, it's just not happening anymore. Our PTA must supply the trash bags used at PTA-sponsored events. We buy the sanitizing wipes for the computer lab. We buy the underwear and spare clothes kept in the office for when kids need them. And, more and more each day, it's just about these bare necessities.
Just yesterday, my principal wrote to me asking if our PTA had found a grant-writing chair yet. While the PTA historically has purchased 15 copies of "Battle Books" each year, the school can no longer afford to buy five extras that it usually does for study groups. To think that our kids may not have the same resources as other kids to participate in this district-wide event is truly heartbreaking.
Of course, I want to jump in and fix the problem. I've already started thinking of ways to get the books, but then I remember that I need to continue to advocate and share my knowledge with others. Only by changing the big picture can we change the outcome. By fixing problems as they arise and putting band-aids on the ever-increasing gap with fundraising and grant applications, we as PTA ARE NOT serving our children. We are enabling the system that is not putting our kids first. We are contributing to the achievement gap, opportunity gap, funding gap, or whatever you want to call the gap between the kids who have and those kids who have not.
Instead of the dreaded Fundraising word being associated with PTA, let's get back to our roots and put Advocacy first.
