At the recent state PTA conference charters became a topic of conversation and a part of the organization's legislative package. This Seattle Times article from last week provides information about the decision to support charters and if you check out the comments some of the concerns being expressed.
"This is an additional way of looking at schools and what we need to be doing differently," Shelley Kloba, the Washington PTA's state legislative director, said Thursday. She emphasized that the charter school issue was just another tool in a wider PTA agenda.
I'm surprised by the move and find myself wondering if it comes from the ranks or is a move by those supporting charters and also having a position of authority in the PTA hierarchy. From some of the comments to the article it may be the latter. I don't know the position of are our PTA officers, but would be interested to hear from them.
You can find the language for the proposal on the PTA site here.
1 comment:
This is a very interesting topic and one that voters in Washington have voted down twice. I know that times change and therefore maybe peoples minds change but what I found interesting was the fact that in the state-wide results of the 2011 PTA Issues eSurvey, Charter Schools scored 2.81 (with 2= not important and 3= neutral). Apparently the delegates felt this issue should be pushed through the Legislative Assembly even though Charter Schools came out 6th out of the 7 issues prioritized by members state-wide. You can see the survey results at http://www.wastatepta.org/advocacy/index.html. Click on “Searchable results for our 2011 Issues eSurvey”.
With that said, it is a a legislative agenda item for PTA and I believe that it was pushed through by parents that belong to outside organizations that are wanting to get into our school system and make critical changes. In talking with union colleagues this week I know the WEA is not in favor of charter schools but if the money stays in public schools and staff are still unionized, the association is going to have to deeper rationale against them rather than just a blanket opposition. I think if these two things remain then WEA will be having a deeper debate within our own ranks to determine where we really stand.
I think though also that in Tahoma, many of our teachers do not necessarily belong to their PTA's and across the state we are seeing a decline in the "T" of PTA and if we want a voice in these discussions it is time to join and get involved. We can sit and be surprised by this legislative agenda item but as a parent and a teacher, I should be more involved and start sharing my thoughts with my PTA about my feelings on these topics. It should be a priority as an educator and as a parent that I share what I think is best for my students and my own daughter.
So while I disagree with the Charter School movement, I have to be willing to step up and be a part of the conversation if I do not want to go down this road.
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