National PTA President
Otha Thornton encouraged and challenged PTAs to increase family engagement at
their schools. “When we talk about family engagement, it can save us so much
money in schools. For every parent, aunt, uncle or grandparent that is
engaged, it saves schools about $1,000 per student,” he explained. Thornton
pointed PTAs to the National PTA website, www.pta.org/programs, for programs and
grants to jump start efforts to increase parent engagement. One of the best
examples of a parent engagement program is the National PTA Schools of
Excellence program. This involves going online and completing a survey, which
is assessed by the NPTA, and provides customized suggestions for PTA units to
increase parent engagement. A video
clip of Thornton’s message will be available on the WSPTA website soon.
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