PTA – a tradition of making a difference
You may think of PTA as the welcome committee at your local school, or the volunteers who provide interesting and valuable programs and PTA is proud of its local involvement, but for more than a century PTA has been advocating for all children with one voice.
Since 1897, PTA has reminded our nation of its obligations to children, and provided resources and important information to parents and educators. Whenever the education, health, safety, or well-being of young people are threatened, PTA members are on the forefront of working to resolve those challenges.
At a local level, Parent Teacher Associations – units – work with the school community to provide programs and support to benefit children and families. Local PTAs often develop programs to meet the unique needs of their community — volunteer art programs, physical education incentives, assemblies to expose students to new adventures or to educate parents and families about community concerns. Local associations make their own decisions about the projects and activities they develop and sponsor.
PTA councils are generally developed around a school district or group of school districts. Councils provide training and support for a group of PTAs in a geographical area. Councils typically meet monthly to provide information to the unit PTAs – local associations, exchange ideas and work with each other on larger goals.
The Ninth District PTA covers San Diego and Imperial Counties and offers training and support to councils, and local associations within the district. Ninth District PTA represents PTAs on a regional level through out San Diego County, organizes new associations, represents the district on the California State PTA Board of Managers, and works to assure all local PTAs remain in good standing by remitting dues, maintaining insurance, following nonprofit tax laws. If a local association or council in San Diego or Imperial Counties needs help, please contact the Ninth District PTA. We will help with any insurance claims, conflict management, training, questions, or ideas. We operate a number of programs to support our units and councils and are proud to work with the outstanding local leaders in our district.
When you join a PTA at a local association in San Diego or Imperial Counties, you also become a member of the Ninth District PTA, California State PTA and the National PTA. This multiplies the resources and benefits of joining and strengthens the voice of PTA for all children.
PTA has, for more than a century, been a driving force in the passage of important laws and guidelines that we sometimes take for granted today, such as:
- Creating a separate criminal justice system for juvenile offenders
- Enforcing child labor laws
- Building kindergarten into the public school system
- Supplying federally funded hot-lunches – that now feed more than 26 million children a day
- Supporting school bus safety regulations
- Creating the content-rating system for television programs
PTA has never been shy about tackling tough issues – from talking about sex education as early as 1916 to supporting HIV/AIDS education programs in the 1980s.
Ninth District PTA has been supporting and advocating for children in our community for nearly 100 years. Add your voice to the largest and oldest children’s advocacy association. We welcome volunteers and members—contact our office for more information.