The national PTA is launching an initiative to combat the historically low male participation in parent-involvement groups.
Leaders of local parent groups say men have made inroads, but women still dominate membership.
Nicki Simmons, who just finished a year as PTO president at Gretna’s Thomas Elementary School, has witnessed the gap.
“At the events we probably have 50-50, but at PTO meetings, we probably have one dad for every 20 women,” Simmons said.
To some degree, that shouldn’t be a surprise. The PTA was founded in 1897 in Washington, D.C., as the National Congress of Mothers.
But now the National PTA’s MORE Alliance — it stands for Men Organized to Raise Engagement — and the National Fatherhood Leaders Group have teamed up to launch A Million Hours of Power. The initiative is aimed at inspiring 350,000 American men to dedicate three hours of service this school year to the education, health and well-being of children.
Working with the National Center for Fathering, PTA will provide a tracking tool so men can log their hours and watch the campaign’s progress toward 1 million hours.
For more information, visit www.pta.org.
Contact the writer:
444-1077, joe.dejka@owh.com
Copyright ©2012 Omaha World-Herald®. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, displayed or redistributed for any purpose without permission from the Omaha World-Herald.
