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School Zone
Questions and Answers with Florida PTA President
Lenelle Cruse
Q. What is your role as the Florida PTA President?
A. My role as
president is to be the administrator for the
organization. I am the spokesperson for the
organization with respect to Florida PTA’s position on
issues. I lead the organization and its Board of
Directors on the direction that Florida PTA will take.
During my two-year term in office, I represent the
organization at various venues, sit on a variety of
committees, and represent Florida PTA as a member of the
National PTA Council of States.
Q. Why is PTA so
important?
A. PTA is the largest child advocacy organization
in the nation. We are involved in improving the lives
of children and families, not only in the school
environment. We also are:
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advocates for child health,
safety and welfare issues;
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advocates for school
accountability;
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advocates for parental
involvement standards;
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advocates for public
education; and
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advocates for adequate
funding for education
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PTA is a voice for all
children.
Q. Describe the role
that PTA plays as the largest advocacy group in the
nation. A. Because of
PTA’s presence at the local, county, state, national and
international levels, we are keenly aware of those
issues that are important to parents, families and
schools. Every state PTA and international PTA unit
conducts legislative conferences where legislators are
visited, and the views of PTA and its membership are
brought forward. Our legislative priorities are shared
with legislators through our participation in
legislative committee meetings and personal visits with
legislators. Our advocacy efforts begin in the school
and extend through our National PTA organization to the
White House.
Q. In terms of
grassroots advocacy, how does PTA operate?
A. Every state PTA organization, and most County
Councils, has a legislative committee. These committees
plan and organize the legislative efforts for their
group. The legislative committee organizes visits to
the state Capitol for members to speak personally with
their representatives. Members are encouraged to
contact legislators on issues that comprise the priority
items for the group.
Florida PTA has begun using
an advocacy tool called CAPWIZ. CAPWIZ allows the
creation of legislative alerts that can be sent to the
Florida PTA membership requesting that members contact
their legislators on specific issues. Members can log
onto CAPWIZ and write messages to their legislator on
the issue. CAPWIZ documents the contact and can copy
the message to as many legislators as the member
directs.
Q. How is PTA
organized?
A. PTA is organized with the following structure:
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Local PTA/PTSA – at the
local level, parent teacher associations (PTAs) and
parent-teacher-student associations (PTSAs) form a
nationwide network of members striving to meet the
needs of children and youth in their own community.
Membership is open to anyone who believes in the PTA
mission and purposes.
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Council/District PTA –
council and/or district-level organizations assist
with efforts of local PTAs. Each state determines its
own structure. States may have different
council/district groupings.
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State PTA – provides
support and field services to local PTAs through 54
state-level congresses representing all 50 states, the
District of Columbia, U.S. Virgin Islands, and the
Department of Defense Dependent Schools (DoDDS) in
Europe and the Pacific.
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National PTA – a powerful
voice for all children with nearly 6 million members
working on behalf of the nation’s youth, schools and
communities through effective advocacy, strategic
alliances, educational programs, and parent resources.
Q. How does PTA
provide information?
A. PTA provides information to its membership and
the public in a number of ways:
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National publication,
Our Children;
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Florida PTA Bulletin;
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State and national
brochures;
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State and national web
sites;
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State and national
conferences;
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Press conferences; and
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Information is shared at
PTA meetings.
Q. Does PTA provide
training?
A. PTA provides a wealth of training. PTA
provides training for parents and students on many
topics as a part of its PTA program at local unit
meetings. PTA provides leadership training to its
members at local, county council and statewide
leadership training. In Florida, over 1,300 PTA leaders
are trained each year at the Florida PTA Leadership
Conference. In addition, leadership training occurs at
the annual state convention.
Q. What are the
benefits of belonging to PTA?
A. Members of a local PTA unit are automatically
members of the Florida PTA and National PTA. PTA
membership offers parents the opportunity to network
with other parents, school administrators, teachers,
business partners and community members at PTA-sponsored
activities. PTA members receive training in numerous
areas (i.e. parenting, advocacy, health screening,
leadership, parliamentary procedure,
parent/teacher/student relationships, conflict
resolution and many others). PTA members attend Annual
Convention, Leadership Conference, Legislative
Conference, workshops, and parent/family involvement
conferences to enhance their effectiveness as volunteers
and advocates. Each PTA president receives the
Florida PTA Bulletin, Florida PTA Kit of Materials,
Florida PTA Legislative Dispatches, National PTA Annual
Resource Materials, and National PTA magazine—Our
Children.
Q. PTA unifies to
take action—what are some examples.
A. PTA has long been in the forefront to address
the needs of children and families. PTA was instrumental
in the creation of kindergarten classes, pushed for the
establishment of many of our nation’s child labor laws,
helped establishment hot lunch programs in schools,
fought to create a juvenile justice system, and
petitioned Congress for mandatory immunizations for
school-aged children.
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PTA took action to assist
the victims of the devastating hurricanes two years
ago. PTA partnered with Office Depot to provide school
paper, pencils, books, art supplies and school
supplies to many schools that were hit by the
hurricanes.
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PTA wrote the definition of
parent involvement that is included in the No Child
Left Behind Act, “the participation of parents in
regular, two-way, and meaningful communication
involving student academic learning and other school
activities including:
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Assisting their child’s
learning;
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Being actively involved in
their child’s education at school;
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Serving as full partners in
their child’s education and being included, as
appropriate, in decision-making and on advisory
committees to assist in the education of their child;
and
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The carrying out of other
activities such as those described in section 1118 of
the ESEA.” (Section 9101[32])
PTA worked very hard to have
this definition incorporated into the law.
Q. How/why did you
first get involved with PTA?
A. I first got involved in PTA when I was a Speech
Therapist at Lola Culver Elementary School. The truth is
that the principal came to me and told me that I was
going to be the PTA Treasurer. At the time, I didn’t
know what PTA was or did. It wasn’t too long before I
was hooked!
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