Parent Teacher Associations/Organizations

Organizations that connect parents with the schools their children attend provide a vital link with teachers and other personnel who have a shared interest in their children. Through these groups, parents get a voice in the daily activities of schools and their administration. In turn, parents become valuable allies for teachers, educational leaders, and their schools, serving a variety of functions, among them classroom volunteers, community contacts, political allies, and fundraisers. Those groups that call themselves Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs) have a long shared history and a network of local, regional, and national organizations. Parent teacher organizations (PTOs) are more informal and localized groups, but they have the same composition and goals. This entry looks at both kinds of parent and teacher linkages.