Sick of charities squeezing families at Title I public schools

Maybe IATA here but please hear me out. My husband and I send our kids to our neighborhood title I public school out of choice. We are hugely involved in the school and have been since even before our kids started there. This is my 2nd year as ptsa President. I work (volunteer) tirelessly for the school because I love the community and believe to my bone that education should not be a privilege.

Our school is title I which means more than 90% of our families qualify for free or reduced lunch. Our families are well below the poverty line for the most part. The PTSA helps fund everything from kids who can’t afford uniforms to paying for kids lunches to covering field trips or school supplies for those that can’t afford it. I spend so much time filling out grants because the reality is, our community of families can’t be squeezed for a single extra dime.

However, every October, it’s mandatory that we let United Way come in and host a variety of fundraising events. We are pressured to give—teachers are expected (I believe required) to give. We have to raise a min of $1,000. So they have us do spirit weeks, dances, penny wars and other ideas. This requires volunteers, flyers and asks on average about $5-$12 per family for that month. That may not seem like a lot, but it’s more than we get usually for the entire year from our families.

None of this goes back into our school. It goes to United way. I wouldn’t be upset at all if it weren’t for the fact that we are a title I school—in other words, we are akin to a charity and many of our families rely on charity. Our school also needs every penny the ptsa raises but we aren’t allowed to fundraiser or hold any events in October. And if we try and do anything the months after, our families are usually maxed out from United way.

The principal tells me we have no choice. We are around the corner from a top-tier, for profit, private school and yet United way isn’t there.

I really feel this needs to change but I’m not sure how to make that happen. I’m willing to listen if I’m in the wrong here. I just want a solution that doesn’t take what our families can’t spare. Or at least that benefits the school and students directly.

Submitted September 26, 2019 at 05:00PM by Pajarito_6180 https://ift.tt/2n5COpa