Did you know that PTA is the largest volunteer based child advocacy group in the nation? It seems that many people have different perceptions of what PTA is or what its true purpose is in serving our schools.  Of course, it is critical that every PTA/PTSA support the mission and vision of both the district and the school it operates within, but that does not just mean running fundraisers to help make up for the fact that the State Legislature is no longer providing adequate funding for Pre-K to 12 public education. We all know that fundraising is a necessary evil for most non-profit organizations, and PTA is no exception.  Providing high quality programs and services for a school takes money, so fundraising to support those efforts is important. However, PTAs are often being asked to provide more than ever before, and we all know that there is less to give these days!

Instead of asking a PTA/PTSA to provide more financial support to their school, what should be requested is help organizing efforts to advocate for the needs of their school, all district schools and all Pre-K to 12 public education in the State of Florida. With that in mind, the Duval County Council of PTAs has named the month of February “Love Your Public Schools – Contact Your State Legislator Month!” The Superintendent and School Board members have asked PTA to support their efforts in encouraging students, parents, faculty and all members of each school community to help send the message of “putting public education first” to our State Legislators!

To kickoff this effort, legislative letter writing and activity packets were sent through school mail to all of our schools. The packets contain several different resources that we hope our schools will find helpful as they decide how best to send their message to the State Legislators this year. One of the most important items in the packets was a stack of note cards. We hope that each school will use the stack of cards to jumpstart the writing of personal notes to our lawmakers to help them understand that we love our public schools. 

If asked to participate in this program at your school, know that your voice really can make a difference in just a simple note. Believe it or not, one personal note from a member of the community is perceived by a legislator as hearing from 25 of his/her constituents on an issue. Each note should include personal information about why you love your school and/or what you do not want to see change because of the continued lack of adequate funding for public Pre-K to 12 education.  Most importantly, we just ask that you participate. Our goal is to have a stack of cards to send to ALL of our legislators from ALL of our schools – so please do your part!

If you are currently a member of your school’s PTA/PTSA – thank you for your support!  If you are interested in learning more about your school’s PTA/PTSA or becoming a member, please contact me at president@dccpta.org for more information.  The Duval County Council of PTAs is proud to serve all the schools in Duval County!