NOT Your Mother’s PTA Advocacy groups raise money, voices, hopes
Photos: Additional images from Education Reform Now, Parent
Revolution, and Stand For Children The organization that claims
to represent the voice and interests of K–12 students and their
parents is the Parent Teacher Association, widely known as the
PTA. The organization aims to provide “parents and families with
a powerful voice to speak on behalf of every child while
providing the best tools for parents to help their children be
successful students.” Founded in 1897 as the National Congress
of Mothers, the PTA declared that it was “up to the mothers of
the country to eliminate threats that endangered children.”
Today, its goal is a “quality education and nurturing
environment for every child.” The PTA has worked to advance
social changes that improved the lives of young people,
including championing the creation of child labor laws,
reorganizing the juvenile justice system, and improving a
variety of children’s services. But today, its orient