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Parent Groups & Site Councils

Parent Teacher Associations (PTA), also known as Parent Associations or Parent-Teacher-Student Organizations, are sometimes seen, particularly by administrators and teachers, as the primary vehicle for parents to participate in the school. The national PTA was founded in 1897 as the National Congress of Mothers. It was a radical concept at the time, when social activism was scorned and women did not have the vote. The PTA has been instrumental as a national lobbying force around issues such as access to kindergarten, school meals, child labor and other issues. In the last several years, many school-based parent organizations have formed independently of the national PTA, though they play similar roles at individual schools.

PTAs are almost always unstaffed, and work with extremely limited resources. They often thrive or falter based on the skills and personalities of a few hard-working parents. In low and moderate-income communities, school PTAs are not often seen as welcoming or representative of the school population as a whole. PTAs tend to be dominated by whites – even in majority-minority schools – and by more middle class families. They are often seen by community groups as relatively conservative bodies that focus on fundraising support for the school. School principals often heavily influence the PTA, and can control their access to school resources to some degree, which also contributes to the frustration that many community organizing groups have with the tendency of PTAs to be fairly conflict-averse.

Many organizing groups have successfully worked with or through established PTAs on a range of issues. However, where PTAs do not reflect the overall demographic makeup of the school, or are substantially controlled by a small subset of parents or the principal, community groups have found them to be unhelpful and some times even obstructionist.

Parent Teacher Associations (PTA) sometimes hold power at the district level. Often, individual school PTA presidents come together in a district-wide body, which may be anointed by the superintendent or school board as the “official” voice for the community and parents.

Site-based decision-making, also known as shared decision-making or school-based management, exists in many districts and schools. The concept was brought over from private-sector “participatory management” innovations—to place more power, autonomy and accountability at the school level and allow for greater decision-making by teachers, and sometimes by students, parents and community members as well. These structures differ widely in their responsibilities and effectiveness. At one end of the spectrum is Chicago where neighborhood residents elect local school councils that in theory can hire and fire principals and other staff and exert significant control over school budgets. Some site-based structures also have control over curriculum and programming decisions. In other places planning teams and similar committees may be advisory only, not accountable to anyone, allowed to address a limited range of issues, controlled by administrators or frustrated by uncooperative staff.

In some places, participatory decision-making extends to the district-level. In most of New York State, for instance, districts are required by law to have a district-level planning team in addition to teams for each school. These teams are supposed to include community, parents, administrators, support staff, and teachers.

Source: January 2005 - Education Action Guide, Power Analysis: Who Can, Who Should, Who Will, Center for Community Change (pages 27-28; 30-31).

Additional Resources

Minnesota Statute 123B.04 — School site decision-making agreements

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