Parents-Teachers Associations (PTAs)

WHEN I first attended formal school as a kindergarten pupil, I thought the school was actually named after me. In elementary, I also thought my mother owned the school because every day, we would go there very early and leave late. Sometimes, even on weekends. She knew everyone from the maintenance people to the admin people. She was always hands-on, even during school events and daily Masses. As the son of a teacher, sometimes I had to wait for her to finish student consultations after her class. I would also sit in her class after my dismissal. Only when I grew up did I come to realize that my mother didn't own the school. She was just "a mere teacher." Not only that, she was also an active member of the PTAs in the schools I attended. It was fun to have PTAs around as families of students were brought together for enriching and bonding activities as a way to supplement school academic work. Now that I am a lawyer and an education advocate, I have a deeper understanding, particularly from a legal standpoint, of what the PTA is, and this is what I intend to share in today's column.

The Parents-Teachers Association, or PTA, is a mechanism for effecting the role of parents, who would otherwise be viewed as outsiders, as an indispensable element of educational communities. Rather than being totally independent of or removed from schools, a parents-teachers association is more aptly considered an adjunct of an educational community having a particular school as its locus. It is an "arm" of the school. Given this view, the importance of regulation vis-à-vis investiture of official status on PTAs becomes manifest. Accordingly, a PTA official status not only enables it to avail of benefits and privileges but also establishes upon it its solemn duty as a pillar of the educational system.