Georgia’s parent-teacher association faces a crisis as it heads into its annual leadership elections today.
Its parent, the National PTA, has said that it is "deeply concerned" about the decision to restrict voting to a slate of candidates who were hand-picked by the current leadership.
And the superintendents of two of the largest school districts in the state -- Gwinnett and Cobb counties -- are asking local PTA units to withhold membership dues from the statewide organization until these and other concerns are resolved.
The formal election process will get underway before noon today during the state PTA convention at Georgia Tech, but the outcome won’t be known until after voting concludes tonight, with the formal installation of officers scheduled Saturday afternoon.
If the PTA leadership refuses to allow additional candidates to run for the numerous statewide offices during this morning’s procedures, the moms and dads in attendance are likely to protest.
It may also further aggravate the national organization, which has few options for intervention -- except the revocation of the state PTA’s charter. If the local revolt spreads beyond Gwinnett and Cobb, it could financially cripple the organization, too.
Cobb alone sends a significant amount of money, given the number of well-organized PTAs there. Cobb Superintendent Chris Ragsdale is objecting to the handling of the election and is threatening that his school district "may reconsider its association" with the PTA.
Over in Gwinnett, the state's largest school district, Superintendent J. Alvin Wilbanks, said his district has "no confidence" in the current state PTA leaders. They've failed to openly address the concerns raised over the past year, such as alleged misuse of funds, he said in a letter to Georgia PTA President Tyler Barr and other superintendents.
It says state PTA leaders “have provided no resolution to the identified problems, no transparency in explaining the situation to local unit members or to the school district, and no accountability for the individuals involved.”
Despite Wilbank’s concern about transparency, Barr is refusing to allow the general public -- via the media -- to observe the election process.
“I was advised by the officers that it is not a practice of Georgia PTA to permit media coverage of its election process,” he told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, after the AJC sought admission.
Even so, hundreds are likely to attend, and the AJC will be talking with some of them to report on events at the Tech Hotel and Conference Center. So return for the details this afternoon.
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