Our Mission and Vision
PTA's mission is to make every child’s potential a reality by engaging and empowering families and communities to advocate for all children.
PTA Values
- Collaboration: We will work in partnership with a wide array of individuals and organizations to broaden and enhance our ability to serve and advocate for all children and families.
- Commitment: We are dedicated to children’s educational success, health, and well-being through strong family and community engagement, while remaining accountable to the principles upon which our association was founded.
- Diversity: We acknowledge the potential of everyone without regard, including but not limited to: age, culture, economic status, educational background, ethnicity, gender, geographic location, legal status, marital status, mental ability, national origin, organizational position, parental status, physical ability, political philosophy, race, religion, sexual orientation, and work experience.
- Respect: We value the individual contributions of members, employees, volunteers, and partners as we work collaboratively to achieve our association’s goals.
- Accountability: All members, employees, volunteers, and partners have a shared responsibility to align their efforts toward the achievement of our association’s strategic initiatives.
The Mission of Michigan PTA
Michigan PTA mobilizes the forces of school, home, and community in order to ensure a quality education and nurturing environment for every child.
The Purposes of Michigan PTA
The purposes of the Michigan PTA are:
- To promote the welfare of children and youth in home, school, places of worship, and throughout the community;
- To raise the standards of home life;
- To advocate for laws that further the education, physical and mental health, welfare, and safety of children and youth;
- To promote the collaboration and engagement of families and educators in the education of children and youth;
- To engage the public in united efforts to secure the physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and social well-being of all children and youth; and
- To advocate for fiscal responsibility regarding public tax dollars in public education funding.
Did You Know...
- The PTA is the largest volunteer association in the United States devoted solely to the welfare of children.
- Your voice is heard in Lansing through the Michigan PTA Vice President for Children’s Advocacy, who spends many volunteer hours talking with legislators, compiling reports, and informing PTA members of legislation pertaining to children.
- The Federal Legislative Chair spends volunteer hours researching activity at the federal level, monitoring the effects of proposed laws.
- The PTA’s juvenile protection projects include working with state agencies on problems of child abuse, foster children, and juveniles in the court.
- The PTA’s safety projects include bicycle safety, playground equipment, school crossings, school buses, and teenage drivers.
- The Michigan PTA’s Fran Anderson Scholarship program provides a scholarship each year to qualified students.
- The PTA’s activity in health issues include - comprehensive health, tobacco including second hand smoke and smokeless tobacco, food allergies, diet disorders/obesity, steroids, ingredient labeling, alcohol and drugs, immunizations, HIV/AIDS, fluoride in water, child nutrition programs, and others.
- The PTA’s Reflections Program has given thousands of children a better understanding of art through the Reflections Program, musicals, trips to art museums, concerts, and picture lady programs.
- The PTA offers training courses locally free of charge to its members. These courses provide information about PTA and how it best functions. The PTA offers self-improvement training, which enables members to function well as leaders in PTA and other community activities as well.
- The Michigan PTA cooperates with more than 40 agencies to improve the quality of life for children (Agencies such as: Advisory Committee on Education; Alliance for Exceptional Children; Department of Children and Family Services, etc.)
- The PTA keeps members informed of PTA projects and action.
- The PTA maintains a good working relationship with all groups of public school personnel.
Who PTA Serves
PTA is the oldest and largest child advocacy association in America, comprised of over 24,000 local PTAs and nearly 4 million members. As part of this nationwide network, parents have a voice in decisions that impact children in their individual schools, and at the district, state and national levels.
- 16.5M Students served in the U.S., District of Columbia, U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and Department of Defense Schools in Europe
- 55% of PTAs serve Title I schools
- 59% of students we serve are students of color
- 71% of PTAs serve elementary schools
- $400K+ in grants awarded to PTAs/schools for program efforts
- 69% of dues spent on programs for PTAs and families
The PTA Advantage
PTA is the oldest and largest child advocacy association in America. PTA is comprised of four million
parents, teachers, grandparents, caregivers, foster parents and other caring adults who share a
commitment to improving the education, health, and safety of all children. We speak with one voice for
every child.
Today, the issues that affect our children extend beyond their individual schools. PTA’s nationwide
network provides parents with the forum and tools to collectively influence the decisions that affect
children not only at their schools, but also throughout their districts, within their states, and across the
nation. This mission is unique to PTA.
Many of the benefits our children receive today, such as universal kindergarten, the National School
Lunch Program, and a juvenile justice system, were accomplished as a result of PTA’s mission.
With PTA, families also have access to important benefits, including:
- Dozens of national programs, experts, and turnkey resources
- Regular updates and advice in the form of e-newsletters, PTA.org, Our Children magazine, and a
robust back-to-school kit of resources
- Leadership development through webinars and e-learning courses
- Millions of dollars in grants to help build PTA capacity and skills and make a difference in their
school community
- Prestigious national awards
- Cost savings from national retailers and other PTA partners
- Invitations to PTA conventions as well as our conferences for emerging minority leaders, male
mentors, and advocates
- Support services and staff to help establish and manage your PTA