On Top of the News
Parent Teacher Association Sues For-Profit Rival PTO Today
Huffington Post| 9/26/12

Behind the Headline
Not Your Mother’s PTA
Education Next| Fall 2012

The PTA is suing its competitor, PTO. The suit accuses the for-profit company of soliciting PTA members to leave the PTA and start a parent-teacher organization (PTO), which would not be affiliated with the national PTA but would instead purchase services from the for-profit company. The PTA accuses the company of “disparaging PTA to drive business their way.” Michael Tarm’s article about the lawsuit in the Huffington Post notes that many alternatives to the PTA have been springing up.

Bruno Manno wrote about the decline of the PTA – and about the new organizations that are allowing parents to play a role in education reform– in the Winter 2012 issue of Ed Next. “Truth be told, few in today’s K–12 education reform movement look to the PTA to fight for dramatic change or engage in direct conflict with the public education establishment,” he wrote.

-Education Next