<p>This article really hit home. D2 is a Junior in HS, D1 a Soph in College. My uber-volunteer days are well behind me, but I still have weekly and monthly school-related volunteer commitments that really add up, time-wise. </p>
<p>Any experiences to share about how to “just say no”?</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/02/garden/02parents.html[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/02/garden/02parents.html</a></p>
<p>My feeling is that if I spend the time working overtime (and donate the proceeds of my overtime work) rather than coordinating fundraisers, I’ll be able to make a much larger financial contribution.</p>
<p>But working overtime to donate money to school doesn’t have the same feel as serving chair of the bake sale or coordinating a penny drive.</p>
<p>I’m talking from the male perspective.</p>
<p>I can really relate to the feeling in the article- I was attending so many meetings & in the school building so much that I was there more than I was home. 
Even if you donate money- time & bodies are whats needed- you can’t pay volunteers & kids do so much better when their own parents are involved, even if that just means volunteering on a field trip a couple times a year & going to a few PTA meetings.</p>
<p>When D2 was in middle school, I was the parent group chair by default- it was the same small group of parents who did everything- and let me tell you- even though if she had wanted to stay at that school for 9-12, I would have agreed, but it was also wonderful when she attended a different school that had uber involved parentals already. :)</p>
<p>( although they were suspicious of outsiders- they had been together through elem & middle school, often with more than one child & they weren’t that open to new faces)</p>
<p>Budget cuts over the last two decades have resulted in parents taking on more and more of the work/expenses of education.</p>
<p>Our parents at D2’s K-12 school, ran weekly book groups, raised funds for the arts ( paid for specialists like dance/music teachers, even math tutoring- underwrote the drama program etc), field trips( including transportation), built the playground, the black box theatre, and on & on.
It was a real blow when just a couple years ago, the district decided the program ( which had been in that building for thirty years), wasn’t needed and " reopened" the building.</p>
<p>just had to get that out- it frustrates me to no end, the extent that parents are having to take over " public" education, because where does that leave communities who don’t have that level of involvement? & what the heck are our taxes going for?</p>
<p>Practical advice-
When parents who have taken on a role- say running the arts auction- run out of children/time/sanity, they may have hit the wall so hard they cannot be available to help with newbies. </p>
<p>What helped at my older daughters 6-12 school was that they had the board of a rep ( or two) for each grade- on the board, as well as regular positions of treasurer etc.
But what * really* helped was that they had compiled Notebooks for each position that were given to you at beginning of year.</p>
<p>Explanation of duties- who & where to get support- when certain things needed to be done- past experience- minutes from previous meetings- all things that sounded like common sense- but it made SUCH A DIFFERENCE to have it written out and easily referenced.
It made it much less intimidating to take on a new position & more likely that the changeover would be successful.</p>
<p>To get it going- you might even have to get a group of people who were not on the board & it was promised that they didn’t have to be on the board- but just to get the notebooks ready for a " prospective" group of parents & work with those who are currently in those positions- but don’t have time to put together a notebook.</p>
<p>The OP article really burned me up. “Boo hoo, poor me, I do so much volunteering, I can’t handle it anymore!” What an idiotic premise. </p>
<p>If all volunteer parents “push back” against volunteering, then guess what? You can kiss goodbye all the PTA money and programs that are offered because of it.</p>
<p>It really depends on what the volunteer activity is.</p>
<p>Chaperoning a field trip is very beneficial because volunteers are required for field trips.</p>
<p>Bake sales, wrapping paper sales, cookie sales, penny drives, etc? Not so much. Cash donations work better.</p>
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<p>All I can say is, wow.</p>
<p>I make $50 an hour. </p>
<p>If I spent an 8 hour day working overtime, my company pays me $400. If I donate this to the school, they match dollar for dollar, or $800.</p>
<p>It’d be very hard for me to generate $800 profit for a school via a fundraiser. Typically the school keeps half of the total, so I’d have to sell $1600 in goods. I can’t do that in an eight hour day.</p>
<p>babyontheway,
I am in favor of monetary donations. If parents can’t give their time, then they must give their money. If they cannot give money, then they must give their time. There are plenty of volunteer jobs that can be done after work hours and on a computer from home.</p>
<p>My volunteerism has been all over the place. When the boys were in elementary school, I was working full time, so I was not doing the heavy lifting. I had a flexible schedule, so I often could make field trips and such, but mainly I sent things in for parties and the carnival. When I quit my job, I started doing more of the heavy lifting – to help out those who had carried the brunt of the workload for so long. I had the time and felt like it was my obligation.</p>
<p>Eventually, I took on larger and larger roles, eventually co-chairing a parent organization and devoting a LOT of time. Because I had no paying job, I felt like I had more time than money to give. It was really satisfying, and I felt like we accomplished a lot of things, but I did burn out. Now, my school volunteerism is on the district level and less on the school level. I feel strongly that you have to have new blood, new ideas and a high level of enthusiasm in leadership positions.</p>
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<p>I’m glad that our financial situation will allow us to make a reasonable contribution to the schools.</p>
<p>I do regonize that there are many families where the parents are working multiple jobs, or are a single parent situation, or have other circumstances that don’t allow them to give either time or money. That’s ok with me. </p>
<p>We each do what we can and are able, and I don’t judge those who do differently than me.</p>
<p>Bake sales, wrapping paper sales, cookie sales, penny drives, etc? Not so much. Cash donations work better.
I agree that the funds raised from those programs- don’t necessarily match the effort expended.
( that may be a moot point soon anyway- although our district has a contact with the food workers union that virtually eliminated food as a fund raiser- unless it is off site)
[Nation</a> & World | Hold the brownies! Bill could limit bake sales | Seattle Times Newspaper](<a href=“http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2013589859_apusbakesales.html?prmid=related_stories_section]Nation”>http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2013589859_apusbakesales.html?prmid=related_stories_section)</p>
<p>Auctions bring in a lot- but they are a lot of work. The K-12 school was an arts focus & our big fundraiser was an arts auction- again led by a small but critical group of people who volunteered in the classrooms so each classroom could make a donation for a class project ( this took all year- but class projects are huge draws and raise a lot of money)</p>
<p>My kids elementary also holds two big fundraisers each year to raise money for scholarships. Though my kids are in college and grad school now I still cook for one. We also support the school financially. I was on the school board and the school’s treasurer for years so I know how needed cash donations are. However, I think another important aspect of major fundraising activities is the community building they foster. I was happy to send my kids off with kids whose parents I’d gotten to know well while setting up the auction or working on the fair. Many of our closest friends are still from that core group of volunteering parents. Parents who do not make time for actual volunteering are missing out on a lot.</p>
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<p>I have a hard time visualizing a familial situation that would not allow at least one parent to give either time or money to the school. For many of the volunteer jobs I take on, I have my kids who attend that school help me. For instance, stuffing envelopes and delivering them to my neighbors - I do this at home and my kids help me and love to do it. </p>
<p>Setting up or cleaning up a weekend fundraiser event, sending out emails soliciting PTA membership, telephone shopping for the best price on trophies for end of the year awards, providing computer purchase consultation if that is your expertise, just showing up to support the art students’ art show, etc. The opportunities are endless and often flexible and usually allow you to include your kids with you.</p>
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<p>How about a single mom that raises two kids and works two jobs.</p>
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<p>Does she spend any time with her kids? What does her week look like? Is she working all day and all night every day of the week?</p>
<p>I cannot imagine a better way to spend time with your kids than volunteering at their school in some manner.</p>
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<p>I can. Talking your kids to the beach, to the zoo, to the park, to the national forests. Decorating a cake together. Cooking dinner at home rather than eating fast food. Helping your child learn to play a musical instrument. Helping your child with homework.</p>
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<p>I don’t think that soliticing PTA membership has a direct benefit to your children. If you only have two hours at home free, I don’t see how spending two hours in front of the computer while ignoring your kids is helping them out. Nor do I see how a time pressed mother spending her free time calling stores rather than cooking a nice home cooked meal is beneficial. Advising the school on what computers to buy might involve kids if they are in high school, but if they are in grade school, has little benefit to them. </p>
<p>I’m not saying that this isn’t important stuff. What I am saying is that not every family has time to spend shopping around for trophies, nor does every family have loads of money to donate to schools. It’s purely optional.</p>
<p>A single mom of two kids- needs to have time to herself- if she doesn’t take care of herself, she can’t take care of those kids.
IMO, the best way she can support the school is in giving her kids an environment where they can do their schoolwork & to value their education.
If she has an extra hour or two- I hope she takes it to recharge herself- not feel guilty about what else she should be doing.</p>
<p>One thing that our parent group @ the k-12 school, did to make it easier for parents to participate to the point where they could attend meetings, was provide free child care & pizza for evening meetings, because we wanted every family to feel that their voice was valued, but we recognized that it was very difficult to make time.</p>
<p>I agree with emeraldkity4 and babyontheway here. The hope is that our hypothetical single mom will eventually get on her feet and give back when she is able.</p>
<p>I also have to agree with babyontheway regarding many fundraisers. I would much rather make a donation that will go entirely to the school than buy wrapping paper, holiday candy or something else I don’t really need or want and which will go to support the supplier as much as the school.</p>
<p>I’ve volunteered for years, but not just with fundraising. I’ve done a lot of advocacy at our school and been able to protect jobs and programs at times. Parents can pressure school districts in ways that those who work for them can’t. I also did an enormous amount of labor-intensive fundraising when my kids were in elementary school. I did a massive silent auction for years, including when I was pregnant and had a baby. It was a stressful time of year for my family. In hindsight, I should have delegated more. My husband didn’t object and, overall, my kids felt they benefitted from my involvement in their schools. If nothing else, they got the message that education was very important in our family. But, to everything there is a season and a time, and everyone’s life is different. As for, making a donation, what I found is that many people love to make a donation, but some people only give if they feel they are getting a product for their money. Again, everyone is different.</p>
<p>The parent organization I co-chaired, a public HS, sends out a fund-raising letter at the beginning of the year, and that’s it. Parents appreciated that.</p>