Throughout the State

Over the past few years I have had the opportunity to take part in region and unit events throughout the state: from Long Island to Niagara Falls and most areas in between. I was invited to speak or give training to unit and region members, but the cool part is what I learned from speaking with you, the members.

• What you want from your PTA 
• What you want for your schools
• What you want as teachers
• What you want as parents 
• What you want for your student

Members throughout the state may have different ideas on what is more important or how to get there, but the end result is the same. Whether the background is rural, urban or suburban, the one thing that everyone agreed on, is that all of the above should make a difference to helping every child make their potential a reality. 

Parents and teachers want to know they are being heard. The voice that we have as parents and teachers is critical, which is why we have been excited to participate this past year with various NYS Education Department initiatives which included having parents from the grassroots represented on the:

• Standards Review ELA and Math Committees (These 14 parents from throughout NYS have decided to continue to meet with NYS PTA to keep their voice heard.)
• Committee of Practitioners (There are now parents from the grassroots from Westchester-East Putnam and Central Hudson representing us to bring the voice of parents with children in school to the table.)
• ESSA Think Tank (Although a Federal program, our voice is being heard on how it will be implemented in NYS.)
• Committee for Principal Standards (The NYS PTA Rural Schools Specialist from the Northeastern Region will bring the parents voice to this process.)
• Connecting members across the state with BOCES superintendents for greater statewide collaboration

You can continue to have your voice be heard by us and the powers that be at state and federal level. For NYS PTA we have put out a survey to ask "What you Want" and we will be releasing those results soon.

The NYS Education Department has extended the period to provide comments on their proposed ELA and Mathematics Standards from November 4 to November 14. To review the proposed ELA Standards and submit your comments, click here. To review the proposed Mathematics Standards and submit your comments, click here. If we want change, we need to let them know what we want; so please take a few minutes to submit your ideas.

There are still more exciting events about to occur throughout the state including our Reflections Roadshow in Genesee Valley this coming weekend and our 120th Annual Convention in Saratoga Springs from November 11-13. I am so excited to participate in these and other events and hope to see many of you there so that we can continue to hear the voice from the grassroots member!

~Bonnie

Bonnie M. Russell
NYS PTA® President
Communicate to Advocate!
everychild.onevoice.®
president@nyspta.org