Sign Me Up
How I came to love the PTA.
by Holly Korbey
December 1, 2008
Another woman got up to speak. She was not wearing a costume of any sort. Nor was she wearing a tennis skirt. Actually, she kind of looked like me. She introduced herself as Shari, the parent volunteer coordinator.
"Here is the Volunteer Database," she said and held up a giant black three-ring binder. I thought, Oh, boy, here we go. The black book of over-organization, exactly what I feared from these people. "After you volunteer for anything at the school, please log your hours in this book." She explained how parent volunteer hours were closely linked with special grants for the school, grants that could buy the school things they desperately needed — like paper, gymnasium equipment, and special classes like music.
She held up a binder. I thought, Here we go.
Music class for elementary school children is no longer a given? I found myself growing outraged.
All these volunteer hours adding up in the big, black book went for things that I had wrongly assumed were extras. Our particular school uses 90% of their yearly budget for teachers' salaries (which we all know are measly to begin with). The other 10% of the budget has to stretch far enough to take care of everything else. At my first PTA meeting, I realized that blackboards, music class, and basketballs for the gym are things public schools no longer take for granted. And so parents have stepped in.
©2008 Holly Korbey and Babble
About the Author
|
|
Related Articles
|
|
Holly Korbey is an actress, writer, and mother of two. Her work has appeared on McSweeneys.net and in "How to Fit a Car Seat on a Camel, and Other Misadventures While Traveling with Kids," edited by Sarah Franklin. She lives with her family in Dallas, Texas. |
|
|
-
by Juanita Perez
How I came to hate the PTA.
-
by Jessica Wakeman
School-lunch crusaders take on the USDA and the slushie.
-
by Madeline Holler
The writer-performer takes on those scary, scary public schools.
|
