CT PTA President's Letter
January, 2003

School began, open houses and parent/teacher conferences are over, and, although hard to believe, some school districts have already been closed for a few days due to snow/ice storms.

While many of our PTA activities are well under way, much of our work is just beginning. At its very core, the PTA is an advocacy group. We need to be a strong voice for our children and our schools before our local boards of education, as well as at the legislature at both the state and national levels. The legislative session is about to begin and your local districts are formulating their budgets for the 2003-2004 school year. As budgets get tighter, it is extremely important that our legislators know that full funding for the education of our children should be their first priority.

I urge all PTA members to become familiar with your school budgets. Now is the time to let your school administrators, as well as Boards of Education and Finance, know what programs, etc. are important to your members. Attend board meetings and inform your members of the issues that will affect their children. Urge your members to also attend the Board of Education meetings. Provide your PTA members with the upcoming schedules of Board of Education and Board of Finance meetings. Provide PTA members and parents with names, addresses, e-mail addresses, and phone numbers of Boards of Education and Finance members so that your members and others interested in the education of children may directly communicate their concerns to board members.

Frequently we are asked if your PTA can speak for or against the school budget or on referendum issues. The answer is simple – YES! PTA’s non-partisan stance, as required by the IRS for our 501(c)3 status, allows PTAs to take positions on issues, never on candidates. In fact, taking positions on issues, moving forward an agenda for children, is PTA’s greatest purpose. However, parliamentary procedure needs to be followed: a call to the meeting identifying the issue to be discussed and voted on, a quorum established, motion made, time for discussion, vote taken, and result recorded in the minutes. Funds should be allocated in your budget to allow for lobbying and legislative activities. Additional lobbying information can be found in National PTA ’s Annual Resource Guide ,as well as on the Connecticut PTA and National PTA websites. If you need further assistance, please contact the Connecticut PTA office.

Therese Duncan, vice-president for legislation, and her legislative team continues to be your voice in Hartford. The team is presently formulating the legislative platform for this year, which will once again include indoor air quality. Therese also represents Connecticut PTA on the Indoor Environment Resource Team. In the spring of 2002, Dr. Theodore S. Sergi, commissioner of education, invited Connecticut PTA to be part of the Committee of Practitioners, which is reviewing how the No Child Left Behind Act will be implemented in the State of Connecticut.

We welcome you to become a part of the legislative team. Mark your calendars now  - Connecticut PTA Day on the Hill will be on March 5, 2003. Join us as we hear from our legislators about issues affecting our children; then take the opportunity to meet with your local representatives to share your concerns with them. If you would like to receive legislative updates, please provide the Connecticut PTA office with your e-mail address.

National PTA continues to represent us in Washington on issues that affect our children, such as the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (No Child Left Behind), the reauthorization of the Individual with Disabilities Education Act, early childhood education, increased federal funding for education, as well as our continued opposition to vouchers, tax subsidies and other privatization mechanisms that reduce revenue for public education.

Let your voice be heard. Let your legislators know that our children and public education are important. Let us speak for every child with one voice. Wishing you and your family a happy, healthy and joy filled new year.

Donna McGuire President, Connecticut PTA