pta's Legacy of advocacy
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The National Parent Teacher Association is the oldest and largest child advocacy association in America. Today’s PTA is comprised of approximately 4 million parents, teachers, grandparents, caregivers, foster parents and other caring adults who share a commitment to improving the education, health, and safety of all children. We speak with one voice for every child.
Today, the issues that affect our children extend beyond their individual schools. The PTA’s nationwide network provides parents with the forum and tools to collectively influence the decisions that affect children not only at their schools, but also throughout their districts, within their states, and across the nation. This mission is unique to the PTA. Many of the benefits our children receive today, such as universal kindergarten, the National School Lunch Program, and a juvenile justice system, were accomplished as a result of the PTA mission. |
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Closer to home, European PTA has advocated since 1958 for many improvements for our military kids, such as school nurses in every school, regardless of the size. We also worked to bring the federal hot lunch program to our DoDEA schools. (That's right - at one point, there was no lunch program in DoDEA schools! Kids who rode buses to school brought cold lunches, and walkers went home for lunch.) EPTA has also advocated for bullying awareness programs in our schools, for school counselors in every school, and for access to gifted and talented programs. These are just a few of the differences that we have made, and we continue to work for positive change. Most other parent groups are just about raising funds, not about advocating for change!
PTA ADVOCACY TOOLS
PTA seeks to create advocates at the local, state, and national levels who will lend their voices as we speak up and advocate for our own children and every child. Not sure where to begin? Check out the wide variety of tools and training materials available through National PTA:
PTA Advocacy Toolkit This toolkit is designed to help child advocates speak up for the health and well-being of all children. Use this resource for everything from writing your legislators to scheduling Capitol Hill visits—even to reach out to the media. |
PTA Public Policy Agenda
National PTA’s Legislative Checklist outlines the policy priorities National PTA and its constituent associations believe are critical to ensuring all children reach their highest potential. |
PTA Takes Action Network Sign up for the PTA Takes Action Network to stay up to date on all PTA advocacy efforts. It's a great way to find out more about current legislative issues and to add your voice to those of other PTA advocates! |
National PTA Resolutions and Position Statements In order to take a stance on behalf of PTA, you need to know where we stand! These resolutions and position statements will help you to understand where PTA stands on issues you may encounter at the local, state, and national level. |
PTA Election Guides National PTA has partnered with Nonprofit VOTE to produce several resources around elections for our members. While we have some limitations as to what we can and cannot do during elections as part of an overseas military community, local PTA units CAN help to get absentee voter registration information out in their communities. Visit FVAP.gov or contact your local Voting Assistance office for more information. |
PTA Letters to Policy Makers This library of past National PTA correspondence with Policy Makers regarding a wide range of issues is a great way to see how PTA is advocating to help make every child's potential a reality. |
If you have any questions regarding National PTA and European PTA advocacy efforts, or if you'd like to join us in our efforts to help make every child's potential a reality, please email us at [email protected] or [email protected].
