Georgia PTA under the microscope because of controversy

The ouster of Lisa-Marie Haygood as president of the Georgia PTA, led to a cascade of complaints against the state PTA’s current leaders.

The ouster of Lisa-Marie Haygood as president of the Georgia PTA, led to a cascade of complaints against the state PTA’s current leaders.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is following the news out of the state PTA meeting and elections going on in Atlanta. We’ll bring you the news through the day.

Here’s what is important to know about what is going on and why it matters.

1. The Georgia PTA has spent months in turmoil since a group of insiders has taken control of the organization, as the AJC reported in this article. There are allegations of political strong-arming, manipulation of votes and racism.

2. Each Georgia PTA member pays dues, of which $1.50 goes to the state PTA. But two of the state's largest school systems have asked PTAs in their districts in the last week to stop sending money to the state organization.

3. The National PTA, of which Georgia is an affiliated organization, placed the Georgia PTA on probation, telling it to get its house in order.

4. The National PTA sent the Georgia organization another strongly worded letter in July with warnings about how it has conducted preparations for the Friday meeting and vote to elect board members, and with a threat to turn things over to the Georgia Attorney General.

5. The PTA’s budget was about $800,000 in 2015, but the organization has been shrinking as local PTAs have pulled out because of the controversy.