ESEA? What’s that?

Ever heard of “No Child Left behind”? This legislation is officially known as the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and it’s up for re-authorization in Congress; a valuable opportunity for parents, teachers, administrators and communities to share their thoughts and concerns with members of Congress in an effort to improve student achievement through innovation and policy improvement.

Now, re-authorization does not simply mean re-approving the existing law(s). Under the NCLB title this legislation was given a massive facelift during its last re-authorization, changes that caused concerns with school districts and parents nationwide.

PTA is working with members of Congress to strengthen ESEA, not to rubber stamp it. As a local school board trustee in South Carolina, I have seen, first hand, how the current legislation calls for a series of mandated policies or programs with little to no funding. PTA is working to address not only funding concerns, but issues around parent involvement, teacher recruitment and overall accountability.

Today, we’re asking that you get involved. We will not have the opportunity to have an open and meaningful discussion on excessive testing; narrowing funding; teacher support; and parent involvement unless our members of Congress hear from us, the voters! Please join PTA in making sure that our children have the tools to succeed, that our teachers have the support they need to be innovative and that our administrators have the funding to guarantee all of our expectations are met.

All of this requires your voice, and the voices of your friends, families and neighbors.

Please help us help our schools. Join the conversation!

Until next time,
Charles J. "Chuck" Saylors- president, National PTA

Welcome to 2010!

Now, be honest, how many of you have already broken at least one of your New Year’s Resolutions? I resolved this year not to make a resolution that was easy to break!

I resolved to 1) learn to tie my bow ties for myself, 2) work on improving my poker game, 3) play golf more often, 4) stop eating French Fries (which will be tough) and 5) walk more (had to do something healthy besides stop eating the fries).

One easy resolution that we all should remember is asking one person to join PTA.

Membership campaigns should be a year-round effort. PTA has built its history, and reputation, on the many voices speaking as one for all students. Yet, we see so many that are not part of the family. Are your neighbors members? How about your school board members? Does your school have 100% teacher membership? If you’re in a middle school, junior high or high school; how many of your students are members?

I find it impossible to believe that we each do not know at least one person we can recruit that is currently not a PTA member.

I can hear it now. I don’t have kids in school, why should I join PTA? Why not? When schools succeed, children succeed. When schools succeed, communities succeed. When businesses see this success they are more often willing to invest in that community. The tax base grows and everyone sees success, and that’s just one talking point.

By the way, Mom, is Dad a member?

Please join us by helping secure one new PTA member as your New Year's Resolution. Good things will happen.

Until next time!
Charles “Chuck” Saylors
President, National PTA

In 2007 the National PTA Board of Directors authorized the formation of a National PTA Advisory Board. The charge was to assemble a group of talented, energetic and knowledgeable individuals from corporate America and the area of public service to help PTA expand on all levels. This Board was to be comprised of 15 individuals, along with the three National PTA Officers, and chaired by the National PTA President-Elect.

Well, we’re proud to say that the dream has become a reality. Hosted by our friends at Viacom in late 2009, the first meeting of the Advisory Board was held in New York City. To say that there was energy in the room would be an understatement. Representatives from the media industry, Target, Viacom, Jamba Juice, Aetna, The Parenting Group, the Tommy Hilfiger Foundation, McGraw Hill, and Verizon addressed everything from communications to membership to non-dues revenue to strategic planning; it was indeed a great time together.

PTA wants to thank our Advisory Board members, and the corporations they represent, for their time, talent and dedication. We are all looking forward to some exciting ideas for PTA and I for one am glad these folks are on our team!

Please visit http://www.pwrnewmedia.com/2009/pta_91210/index.html to find out more about the Advisory Board.

Until next time,
Charles "Chuck" Saylors
President, National PTA

Nothing is more painful than to watch and hear a parent talk about the loss of a child. Even more painful is when that child takes their own life. In recent news accounts, we’ve learned of two young ladies who took their lives after being bullied through “sexting”.

If you had asked me two months ago what the term “sexting” meant, I could not have given you any kind of credible answer, and I have teenagers. In simple terms, we have children sending messages and photos over cell phones and the internet that show themselves, and others, in less than appropriate ways. Once these messages and photos are public they can, and do, go viral.

In fact, according to an Associated Press-MTV poll, more than a quarter of young people have been involved in sexting in some form. And half of all young people surveyed said they have been targets of digital bullying.

As parents, teachers and administrators we need to do everything possible to make sure our students know that these actions have consequences. Children make decisions each day that, if given a chance, they would change. Our children need to know that “sexting” is wrong, but they also need to know that the bullying is wrong as well. And we need to emphasize the impact of words because we know all too well that they hurt too.

To parents, grandparents, and any adult role model, I ask that you please talk to your children and help them understand that these issues are serious. Do everything possible to monitor their use of their phone messaging and the internet. “Sexting” is wrong, bullying is wrong and everyone needs to always be mindful of their actions. No parent or family should ever face the loss of a child over this!

If you need help talking to your child about cyber bullying, visit http://www.pta.org/bullying.asp for resources and information.

Until we meet again . . .

I believe we all can agree that when both parents, or other adult role models, are involved in a child’s education, that child is more successful. Study after study proves that to be a documented fact. What can you do? Get engaged and more specifically get men engaged!

In early November, National PTA hosted our first-ever Male Involvement Summit in Atlanta. Present were men who represented all of our states as well as schools from overseas. The conference provided new tools and ideas for engaging men in the educational environment; tools that can be used by our states, councils, districts and local units.

Currently men represent only 10% of over five million PTA members worldwide. To me this is a great opportunity. Through the MORE alliance (Men Organized to Raise Engagement), PTA leaders can find resources and plans to help add to your engagement efforts.

However, even with these great tools there is always one concern, time.
No matter how great the plan or sales pitch, we still have adults who are resistant towards volunteering, and the lack of time is a common reason. Valid point but easily addressed. In those cases, I would suggest the use of a National PTA program called “Three for Me.”

In simple terms, “Three for Me” asks any interested adult (mom, dad, grandparents, families and community members) to donate three hours to the school over the entire school year. Not three hours a month or week, rather the entire year.
How many of you can leave home, drive to a movie, see the movie and return home in less than 180 minutes? That’s the three hours we’re asking for. Male engagement is a great way to show how successful this program can be for your school and students!

Helping a student with their reading, math or homework skills is not that hard. Helping a teacher at lunch is not that hard. My point is that there is something to do at a school that can fit anyone’s time and talent, and in this case men can meet that challenge.

As we move forward to create a new level of engagement for men, please see that your school supports such a cause. The students will reap the benefits.


Until next time . . .

How many parents relive their high school days through their children? I did, and probably will again. Recently some of my high school friends visited our home, the memories we shared were priceless. As part of that, we remembered how involved we were in our community.

Today, students are serving their communities in countless ways. Recently I had the honor of visiting Coral Park Senior High in Miami and took part in their Homecoming parade and game. What an event!

What I found was a group of students dedicated to student performance. Their homerooms even conducted a PTSA membership competition. These young men and ladies displayed a school pride that any teacher or principal would be proud to have in their school.

Last week in my home town of Greenville, SC we were able to see the students at four high schools help the community in over 500,000 ways. Each year Wade Hampton High competes with Eastside High; and J.L. Mann High competes with Greenville Senior High for their respective Spirit Weeks. This year both competitions were held on the same week, and talk about a touchdown. All four schools raised over $500,000 helping support children’s services, cancer research, drug prevention programs, community youth programs and more.

All of this ties together; our students today have tremendous talent and energy, an opportunity for your PTSA to get more students, and their parents, engaged.
In a day and time when we see young people enacting violence against each other, our PTSA’s must engage our students. Take the time to ask for their involvement, seek their support and respect their opinion.

Until next time…
Chuck Saylors,
National PTA President

Why is it that week after week we see news stories highlighting acts of violence by young people against young people? Not too long ago we were saddened by the unnecessary death of a young man in Chicago who was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Now the story is about a gang rape of a young lady attending her school Homecoming Dance. When is enough, enough?

When I was a student I had one simple household rule to live by, “get in trouble at school and get the punishment two fold when you get home”. Today, when a student breaks the rules parents often say, “I know my child did something wrong, but . . .”

My friends, it’s time to throw “but” out the door! When a child, of any age, leaves home for school the parents’ responsibility does not end. Our schools have been established to educate and provide our children with the tools they need to succeed, not be the full time parent when the students walk through the door.

When a student is beaten to death with a board as others video the crime, something’s wrong! When a young lady is raped by 4 thugs while as many as 20 others watch, something’s wrong! When students are bringing guns, drugs and knives to school, something’s wrong!

What’s wrong? Many will say “it’s today’s way of life”. Many will say “there’s nothing we can do”. Many will say “it’s not my kid so who cares”. To me, none of these comments are acceptable. Parents need to be the responsible party. Parents need to show their children the respect and discipline we knew as students not too many years ago. Parents need to be parents! Parents need to be engaged!

We live in a less than perfect world. Like many of you I have four children, two older and two younger. Being a parent is a full time 24/7 adventure; but what we’re seeing today in so many places is going to lead to much greater problems… for all of our families. PTA is here to help secure a safe and healthy life for all children, but we can’t do it all; we need parents to get engaged.

For more information on how you can get involved in keeping our schools safe, visit
http://www.pta.org/topic_school_violence.asp
Until next time,
Chuck Saylors, National PTA President