Dues or Not

It all boils down to the fact that parents shouldn't have to pay to volunteer at the school. While the National and State PTAs lobbies
for some good issues, parents shouldn’t be required to support these causes by paying to volunteer at their school. Lobbying should be separate from volunteering at the school. The great thing about a PTO is that you can volunteer no matter what your opinion, view point, political stance, etc. A PTO welcomes everyone!!!

This is what Holly wrote in her post. Read the full post is here.

Dues - I like that it is up to the individual school’s PTO to decide whether or not to charge dues.   I like that if  dues are charged by a PTO, 100% of that money stays at the school.  The PTA requires dues.  Of the $5 PTA membership dues charged at Silver Mesa in the 2015/2016 school year, less than $0.50 will stay at the school.  Of each $5 membership, around $0.50 was sent to the Council PTA , $1.75 was sent to the Utah PTA, and $2.25 was sent to the National PTA.  That money adds up and would be better-used at our school, rather than at state and national levels.  I like that with a PTO, one can volunteer regardless of monetary contribution.  In the PTA, one cannot volunteer at the board-level, or in any other position that requires the handling of money, if one has not paid membership dues.  It seems counter-productive to require volunteers to pay in order to donate their valuable time.  Anyone wanting to donate time for the benefit of our kids should be able to do so, regardless of whether he/she is a member of the PTA.