Unfortunately, that isn’t happening here in Alabama where apparently the PTA could not care less about what a local PTA is doing to military families. Perhaps it’s silent approval that military families are being attacked and separated by a power mad and ignorant PTA is okay here since Alabama State PTA officials never bothered to respond to my concerns and the behavior of their officers at both the school and district level.
But, Alaska DOES seem to get it. In recent weeks, representatives from the National Military Family Association have had the opportunity to work with the Parent Teachers Association (PTA) at both the state and national level. In mid-October, Kathleen Moakler, Government Relations Director, traveled to Alaska to take part in a series of dialogues between military families, family program and healthcare providers, state legislators, city government leaders, non-government organizations, and Alaska State PTA volunteers. The sessions were held in Fairbanks, Anchorage, and Kodiak. Participants in each session were briefed on Service family support programs, military healthcare, veterans’ benefits, as well as new legislation affecting service members and their families.
Our Association and the Armed Services YMCA were highlighted as organizations with “best practices” and presented overviews of how our programs were impacting military families. Time was allotted at the end of each of the 6 hour sessions for a discussion of what programs were helping families and where the gaps existed. A report of these meetings will be presented to the Alaska state legislature’s Joint Armed Services Committee and to the Alaska congressional delegation. This project was funded by the Alaska state legislature through a grant to the Alaska PTA. Special thanks go to Paula Pawlowski and Chris Ward (Association representatives in Alaska) and Al Tamagni from the Alaska PTA for inviting our Association to take part in this timely series of meetings.
In addition to participating with PTA on the state level, Candace Wheeler, Government Relations Deputy Director, traveled to the National PTA Headquarters in Chicago where she represented our Association at the first meeting of the PTA Alliance to Support Military Families. The mission of the new alliance is to educate PTA families across the country and overseas on how to support military families, and to give military families the tools to become better advocates for their children. Other members of the alliance are the Military Impacted Schools Association (MISA), Military Child Education Coalition (MCEC), and the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA).
