A
Walk Through The History of PTA
"What has the PTA REALLY done for our children?" and
"What impact can we really make as a member?"
Here is a brief and high level view of some of the things PTA as a whole has accomplished.
These accomplishments are rather significant, but they do not completely encompass all the accomplishments of the PTA at the National, State, or individual unit levels.
There are some unsung heroes out there who we're certain have done other great things as well!
"A Walk Through PTA History"
·
The
Early Years
o PTA was founded in 1897. The founders had a dream to change the
minds of parents, the public, and the government in order to improve the lives
of children.
o National Congress of Mothers established in
1897 by our founders
o The Founders of the PTA
§ Alice McLellan Birney - A teacher and widow
with two children
§ Phoebe Apperson Hearst - Mother of publishing
giant William Randolph Hearst
o First Meeting Held in Washington, DC in 1897
§ The first meeting of the National Congress of Mothers
was held in Washington, DC on February 17th, 1897. News spread of this
new congress and cause and their voices were heard all across the country.
o First Annual Meeting the following year
§ The following year, more than 2000 attended
the first annual meeting in Washington, DC.
o Publicly Against Discrimination in an Era that
Condoned It
§ In an era where discrimination was tantamount,
the PTA welcomed ALL members regardless of color, creed, or condition.
o Concerned about Health and Sanitation Issues
for Infants and Youth
§ At it's founding, gave lessons such as the
"Cradle Lesson" amongst others to help teach others about health and
sanitation.
o Advocated for a Separate Juvenile Justice
System
§ National PTA advocated for a separate Juvenile
Justice System so that children wouldn't be tried and incarcerated as adults.
§ This is the basis for the juvenile justice
system today
o Advocated for Child Labor Laws
§ National PTA advocated for Child Labor Laws to
protect children against unsafe work practices and conditions
·
Early
1900's
o President Theodore Roosevelt serves on PTA
Advisory Council of Fathers
o Chartered a Network of State Organizations
and Built a Network of Mothers
§ Via an official Plea for the formation of
Parent's Clubs in Connection with Schools
o National PTA Supported Early Childhood
Education (Kindergarten)
§ National PTA fought for the establishment of
Kindergarten as part of the public school system.
o Advocated for Sex Education to Pre-pubescent
Youth
§ As early as 1916, PTA advocated that sex
education be taught to children before reaching puberty.
·
1920's
o Encouraged Greater Moral and Spiritual
Education of Children
o Provided Reviews of Moving Pictures
o Began the First "Drive Safely"
Campaign
o Another Founder - Selena Sloan Butler
§ One woman who took up the parent-teacher cause
was African-American teacher and child advocate, Selena Sloan Butler.
§ Attended PTA Conferences and in 1926 founded
the National Congress of Colored Parents and Teachers (NCCPT) in states where
segregation was legally sanctioned.
§ From the onset, the National Congress of
Colored Parents and Teachers admitted into its ranks all who cared for the
"betterment of child life".
o Summer Round-Up
§ A Nationwide Children's Health Project created
by PTA and the U.S Bureau of Education.
§ Helped educate parents and had every 1st
grader registered and examined by a doctor and dentist before entering school.
§ It was the first means to gather a
standardized assessment of school children's health.
o 1929 - Stock Market Crashes
§ Millions lost their jobs, and many
schools were closed
§ PTA Advocates for Federal Aid to Re-open
Schools and provide Meals
§ National PTA advocated for federal aid to
be used to reopen closed schools and to provide school lunch programs for needy
children.
·
1930's
o NCCPT Calls for Leaders
§ NCCPT called for African-Americans to assume
leadership positions as superintendents and board members in segregated school
districts.
o Selena Sloan goes International
§ Selena Sloan presented early childhood
information at conferences of the Nursery School Association of Great Britain.
o PTA Becomes an Official Co-Sponsor of American
Education Week
·
1940's
- World War II Era
o PTA Establishes War Emergency Committees
§ During the war years, PTA established War
Emergency Committees, organized paper and scrap drives, and created "safe
houses" where children could find refuge in case of attack.
o NCCPT Organizes First Aid Instruction, Salvage
Drives, and War Bond Purchases
o National PTA and the United Nations
§ National PTA was a consultant to the U.S.
Delegates when the United Nations was founded in 1945.
o Hot Lunch Program
§ PTA advocated for the establishment of a
Federally Funded School Lunch Program. Today this program feeds more than
26 million children a day.
·
1950's
o Fighting Polio
§ One of PTA's greatest achievements was its
work with the March of Dimes to implement a nationwide polio vaccination
program.
§ Local members across the country volunteered
to administer the vaccine to 1.8 children in 1954.
o Desegratation - Brown vs Board of Education
§ The Brown vs Board of Education decision
declared school segregation unconstitutional and changed the face of public
education.
§ After the Brown vs Board of Education
decision, the PTA and NCCPT held their conventions in conjunction with one
another.
§ Separate local units began to desolve and
unite as one entity to work for children.
o Sputnik Launched in 1957
§ In response to this launch, the U.S. education
focus changed to emphasize math and science in all grade levels.
§ PTA worked diligently to aid the U.S. Congress
in passing the National Defense Education Act. This legislation sought to
close the science gap.
·
1960's
o PTA Membership Soars to Over 12 Million
Members
o Formal Merge of PTA and NCCPT
§ In 1966, the two associations began formal
talks about unification and formally merged in 1970.
§ Despite riots in some areas because of racial
tensions, integration proceeded effectively enough to see many local units of
the NCCPT merge with local PTA units.
o Anti-Smoking Campaigns
§ All PTA Units encouraged to educate children
on the health hazards of smoking cigarettes.
§ PTA sought to inspire young people to
become the first smokeless generation.
o Mary Lou Anderson creates Reflections
§ In 1969, Mary Lou Anderson, then Colorado PTA
President, created the arts achievement program called Reflections.
§ Today, more than half a million students
participate in Reflections each year.
·
1970's
o NCCPT and PTA Formally Merge
§ The NCCPT and PTA formally merged on June 22,
1970 and so did their identical missions --- to improve the lives of all children.
o Headline: National PTA Putting TV on Probation
§ PTA commission investigates issues of
increasing TV violence, how women are depicted, and effects on the children.
§ Findings reveal need for parents to more
carefully supervise what their children watch.
o Urban Outreach
§ In 1977, PTA initiated the Urban Education
Project to identify crucial problems confronting urban schools and develop new
and dynamic strategies for solving urban problems.
o Family Education Rights and Privacy Act of
1974
§ PTA counts as a victory the passage of this
act.
§ The law gave parents the right to inspect
their child's school records and correct and challenge them if necessary.
·
1980's
- Education Reform
o PTA Opposes Massive Cuts in Federal School
Lunches and Nutrition Programs
§ When the Reagan administration sought massive
cuts in federal school lunch and child nutrition programs, PTA made it's voide
heard.
§ PTA went on record opposing all legislation
that disproportionately affected children
o "Looking In On Your School" Project
§ In response to public concern over the
condition of schools, PTA initiates the "Looking In On Your School
Project".
§ The project was designed to promote teamwork
among parents, principals, teachers, and students to improve public schools.
o HIV/AIDS Education
§ PTA undertakes massive public education
campaign to explain the nature of HIV/AIDS to parents, children, and youth.
·
1990's
o Child Safety
§ From seat belts to bike helmets, PTA has
always called for the highest standards of safety for children.
§ With the help of corporate sponsors, PTA
produces and distributes bike safety and bus safety information and Public
Service Announcements.
o Parent Involvement
§ Parent involvement becomes buzzword of the
education community
§ PTA hosts Parent Involvement Summit where 28 education
organizations meet to discuss what each can do to encourage greater parent
involvement
o Urban Outreach
§ Ebony co-develops a video with National PTA
titled, Guide to Student Excellence featuring interviews with Dr.
Maya Angelou and Marian Wright Edelman, president of the Children's Defense
Fund.
o PTA Joins the World Wide Web
§ Today, PTA's website attracts more than 3
million unique visitors a year
o PTA and TV Ratings
§ PTA advocates for a television rating system
that will help parents know the content of TV programming, not just age
appropriateness
§ FCC adopts TV rating system with content codes
in 1998
o Parent Involvement Standards
§ PTA publishes the first National Standards for
Parent/Family Involvement Programs in 1998
§ These standards would later define
"parent involvement" in the No Child Left Behind Act
·
2000-2008
o Building Successful Partnerships
§ National PTA publishes "the" book on
parent involvement -- Building Successful Partnerships
§ Based on the six national standards, the book
provides a blueprint for developing successful parent involvement programs that
work
o Hispanic Initiative
§ PTA steps up translation efforts on more
parenting resources than ever before, including national advertising and its
website
§ PTA also launches Hispanic Initiative in three
pilot states to identify and mentor Hispanic leaders within the organization.
o Five Cents Makes Sense Campaign
§ Less than 3 cents of every federal dollar goes
to education funding
§ PTA enacts Five Cents Makes Sense Campaign to
lobby Congress for 5 cents of every dollar to fully fund all educational
programs for our public schools
o National PSAs
§ National PTA and The Ad Council launch
national Public Service Announcements in English and Spanish to increase
awareness of the need and benefits of parent involvement
§ The media has donated more than $600 million
worth of advertising placements to carry our PSAs and help spread our message
o Responding to Tragedy
§ During this decade, PTA also responded to
national tragedy and disaster --- first to September 11 and then to Hurrican
Katrina.
·
As
PTA Enters a New Century
o Parent involvement will remain at the core of
everything we do
o Health and Safety issues will continue to be
priorities
o We'll hold steadfast on increasing funding for
public schools
Alice McLellan Birney and Phoebe Apperson Hearst founded the organization when women did not have the right to vote and social activism was not popular. However, they believed mothers would support their mission to eliminate threats that endangered children, and in early 1897, they started a nationwide campaign.
mothers, but also fathers, teachers, laborers and legislators—attended the first convocation of the National Congress of Mothers in Washington, D.C. Twenty years later, 37 chartered state congresses existed.
Selena Sloan Butler in Atlanta, Ga.—merged to serve all children.