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Running a PA/PTA

Each public school in NYC is required to have a PA/PTA, a parent-led organization. PA/PTAs are made up of an executive board, general members, and committees. They are governed by multiple regulations...

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Earning through Shopping

There are a number of ways that your PA/PTA can earn money through parents' regular shopping. Giving through shopping is free and generally easy—just register your PA/PTA and spread the word to your s...

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Parent Leadership

Anyone with a child in a NYC public school -- parents, foster parents, guardians, step-parents, persons in parental relation -- can be a parent leader. Parent leaders: volunteer in schools (not just i...

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Donation Requests

PA/PTAs often raise money through direct asks -- the Annual or Direct Appeal is, for many, the largest fundraising event of the year, while others rely on dues. Matching Gift programs allow parents to...

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Raffles

Chancellor’s Regulation A-660 (CR A-660) allows PA/PTAs that have been in existence for at least three years to hold raffles for fundraising purposes. A PA/PTA or Presidents’ Council in existence for ...

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Parent Members: Committees, Volunteerism, and Advocacy

While the executive board serves as the PA/PTA's administration, all parents make up the PA/PTA and are responsible for its success. Parents can support their schools by joining committees; volunteeri...

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Bylaws, Chancellor's Regulations, and other Laws

Each New York City public school PA/PTA must comply with the NYC Department of Education (DOE) Chancellor's Regulations as well as its own bylaws. If your PA/PTA is incorporated as a not-for-profit in...

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College and Career Readiness

PA/PTAs can provide parents and students with programs and access to information for life outside of school. Some hold weekend events that showcase camps and other opportunities for summer enrichment....

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Not-for-Profit & Tax Exempt Status

Generally, it is useful for PA/PTAs to incorporate as not-for-profit organizations and obtain tax exempt status, but doing so might not be necessary for every NYC public school PA/PTA. This section is...

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Communication and Meetings

To a large extent, PA/PTA affairs are managed through a combination of meetings of the general membership, executive board meetings, and committee meetings. CR A-660 allows general membership and exec...

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Working with the School Administration & DOE

While PA/PTAs are self-governing organizations, they are required to work with the school administration and certain DOE offices in a number instances per the CR A-660. Apart from compliance with the ...

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Financial Affairs

A PA/PTA’s funds are separate and independent from those of the school, and PA/PTAs are responsible for their own financial affairs. Managing these affairs is the responsibility of the executive board...

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PA/PTA Overview

A Parent Association (PA) or Parent Teacher Association (PTA) is the official organization of the parent body in a school. Every New York City public school is required by the New York State Education...

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Executive Board: Officers, Elections, and Transition

The executive board is your PA/PTA’s administration — it runs your PA/PTA. It should function also as a representative of the entire parent body, which is important to keep in mind when defining its c...

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Arts Enrichment

While budget cuts have thwarted many schools' ability to provide arts programs in schools, many PA/PTAs are helping bring arts enrichment to the students, either through grants or funds they have rais...

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Online Campaigns

PA/PTAs, student groups, and teachers turn to the internet for a variety of fundraising activities — from benefit auctions to crowdfunding for classroom projects. Crowdfunding, which allows groups to ...

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Planning Events

PA/PTAs can enrich their schools by running a wide variety of programs, activities, and events for students, parents, and the school community. For example, PA/PTAs can: plan community-building cele...

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Flea/City Markets

The Department of Education allows PA/PTAs to run flea markets and City markets on school property in order to raise money for the schools. For schools with appropriate space, markets can be significa...

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Auctions & Galas

For many schools, the auction is the year’s biggest fundraiser. It is often turned into a gala, an adult-night-out which includes dinner, a dance party, and live and/or silent auctions. These events r...

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Grants

Grants can be a significant source of funding for PA/PTAs, particularly for special projects or certain programs. They require a plan for how the funds will be spent, and someone to put that and other...

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Sales & Product Fundraisers

While fundraising often is thought of in terms of donations of money, many PA/PTAs hold sales – also called product fundraisers – to raise money....

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Parent Education

Parent education can take many forms, depending on the needs of your families. Some PA/PTAs host workshops on topics such as internet safety, bullying, and issues related to raising teens. Others focu...

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Health and Wellness

Over the years, many PA/PTAs have started programs to support healthy living. They hold run curricula-based wellness program, organize health and fitness events, and become involved with the food offe...

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School Gardens

Some PA/PTAs have built school gardens to help improve school lunches, advance environmental literacy, bring children outside, provide green space at urban schools, and introduce young people to fresh...

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Philanthropy

Activities and events designed to provide resources to individuals and communities in need can also can educate students about social issues and help bring the school community together. Although CR A...

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Curriculum Based/Classroom

Curriculum based activities and events can spur students' interest in particular areas of the school’s curriculum, help familiarize families with different aspects of it, and provide an opportunity fo...

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Community Building

Community building is for PA/PTAs, whose function, in part, is to make families feel welcome and comfortable in their children’s schools. Additionally, the more unified the parent body, the better it ...

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Parent Advocacy

Parent organizations are excellent vehicles to support parent advocacy. For example, PA/PTAs in some NYC public schools play a significant role in helping parents advocate for mandated and needed prog...

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DOE Leadership Structures

Opportunities for parent leadership and advocacy exist within the NYC school system at the school, district, and citywide levels. These opportunities are meant to grant parents meaningful roles as par...

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Fundraising

PA/PTAs are allowed to fundraise in order to enrich students' education -including for classroom materials, school-wide improvements, enrichment activities, after-school programs, and other student ne...

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Participatory Budgeting

Participatory Budgeting is a democratic process in which community members directly decide how to spend part of a public budget. In NYC Council Members choose to join Participatory Budgeting in New Yo...

Organizations

Advocates for Children of New York (AFC)

AFC’s mission is to promote access to the best education New York can provide for all students, especially students of color and students from low-income backgrounds. It provides students and their fa...

Articles

School Food

In many neighborhoods across the city, parents have organized to improve the meals served in their schools’ cafeterias. Often, parents form a PA/PTA committee, decide on their priorities, and then wor...

Articles

Supportive Services for Immigrant Students

Due to the recent roll out of policies by the current Trump administration our fellow community members who identify as asylum seekers and/or immigrants are facing a vast landscape of conflicting info...

Articles

Restorative Justice

Black and Latinx students have long suffered harsher disciplinary actions in schools than their white peers, fueling the school-to-prison pipeline. Many schools are taking steps to curtail these well-...

Articles

Access to Physical Activity

It is now undeniable that physical education (PE) is an essential part of student's academic experience. Exercise and wellness education have positive effects on children’s behavior and can help culti...

Articles

Standardized Testing

Each spring, public school students in 3rd through 8th grade take state tests in English and math; 4th and 8th graders take a science test as well. These tests were introduced in the mid-2000s in orde...

Articles

Desegregation/Integration

New York City’s school system continues to be one of the most segregated in the country. To address the harmful consequences of school segregation, many students, families, educators, and other commun...

Articles

Resource Equity

A large majority (more than 70%) of NYC public school students live in poverty. As a school system, adequate resources in schools in NYC are extremely important and often require advocacy by families,...

Articles

Language Justice

Under New York State law, all English Language Learners (ELLs) have a right to the resources, services, and support they need to be able to achieve the same educational goals and meet the same standar...

Organizations

INCLUDEnyc

INCLUDEnyc serves families of children and young adults in NYC with disabilities. Through individual advocacy, specialized trainings and community awareness events, it supports families developing the...

Articles

Special Education Supportive Services

Parent groups can play important roles in supporting students with disabilities by providing families with the information they need to advocate for their children’s educational rights. PAs/PTAs can c...

Articles

Environmental Safety

When families discover potential environmental threats to their children’s health in public school buildings, PA/PTAs can step in and advocate for safe renovation procedures. After learning that its s...

Organizations

New York State PTA

The New York State PTA is a not-for-profit organziation that serves as a branch of National PTA. For more than 115 years, New York State PTA has been focused on three primary objectives: parent educat...

Resources

Campaign for Educational Equity’s Know Your Rights: English Language Learner Resource Requirements

The Campaign for Educational Equity, a nonprofit research and policy center at Teachers College, Columbia University, published a pamphlet, available in English and Spanish, describing the rights of E...

Organizations

Sinergia

Sinergia provides information, training and one-to-one support to NYC families of children with disabilities, and professionals who work with them to help parents understand the special education syst...

Organizations

Parents for Inclusive Education (PIE)

PIE is a parent-led group of educational reformers that works to ensure that all students with disabilities in the NYC public schools have access to meaningful inclusive educational and community oppo...

Articles

PTAlink Webinar: The Elephant in the Room, PA/PTA Fundraising Equity

What does equity in fundraising look like? How can it be achieved? And why does it matter for your school community? Hear from special guests, Dr. Claire Mackevicius and Dr. Brittany Murray, who will ...

Search Results for “”

Running a PA/PTA

Earning through Shopping

Parent Leadership

Donation Requests

Raffles

Parent Members: Committees, Volunteerism, and Advocacy

Bylaws, Chancellor's Regulations, and other Laws

College and Career Readiness

Not-for-Profit & Tax Exempt Status

Communication and Meetings

Working with the School Administration & DOE

Financial Affairs

PA/PTA Overview

Executive Board: Officers, Elections, and Transition

Arts Enrichment

Online Campaigns

Planning Events

Flea/City Markets

Auctions & Galas

Grants

Sales & Product Fundraisers

Parent Education

Health and Wellness

School Gardens

Philanthropy

Curriculum Based/Classroom

Community Building

Parent Advocacy

DOE Leadership Structures

Fundraising

Participatory Budgeting

Advocates for Children of New York (AFC)

School Food

Supportive Services for Immigrant Students

Restorative Justice

Access to Physical Activity

Standardized Testing

Desegregation/Integration

Resource Equity

Language Justice

INCLUDEnyc

Special Education Supportive Services

Environmental Safety

New York State PTA

Campaign for Educational Equity’s Know Your Rights: English Language Learner Resource Requirements

Sinergia

Parents for Inclusive Education (PIE)

PTAlink Webinar: The Elephant in the Room, PA/PTA Fundraising Equity

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