Alice McLellan Birney Co- founder of the PTA

The Parent Teacher Association (PTA) began in 1895 in the midst of the Chautauqua and kindergarten movements. Alice McLellan Birney and Phoebe Hearst (mother of William Randolph Hearst) originated the idea of a National Congress of Mothers (NCM) to address the needs of children in the late 19th century. On February 17, 1897, (112 years ago) these two women convened the first meeting of their new organization in Washington, DC. In their words, the "irrespective of creed, color, or condition, stands for all parenthood, childhood, homehood. Its platform is the universe, its organization, the human race."

Theodore Roosevelt, then governor of NY, became a member of the NCM in 1900 and remained through his presidency and up until his death. Hannah Kent Schoff took over the presidency from Birney in 1902 and focused on organizing chapters in all the states and allying with all parent associations in local public schools. The name was changed in 1908 to the Parent- Teacher Association (PTA). By 1927, there were PTA branches in all states.

Phoebe Hearst Co- founder of the PTA

Over the decades of the 20th century, the PTA fostered child psychology, parent education, parenting skills, child welfare and nutrition, sex education, and abolition of child labor. During the segregation era, a separate but affiliated Colored PTA was organized by Selena Sloan Butler. The two organizations merged in 1970 as the National PTA.

In 1930, both PTAs joined to endorse the Children's Charter. These rights of childhood included:

• Spiritual and moral  training
• Understanding, love,  and security
• Health protection
• A good home and a loving family
• Individualized instruction
• Specialized care for the  handicapped, and
• An adequate standard of  living.

All of these rights were publicized in numerous publications such as Child Welfare and PTA Today. In 1964, the PTA attacked the health hazards of cigarette smoking. The problems of urban education were addressed beginning in the late 1970s. Arts education and literacy received special attention in the 1980s. In the 1990s, the National PTA began prom oting HIV/AIDS education. Eight goals were adopted in 2000 that included:

• All children will start school  ready to learn.
• High school graduation will  reach 90%.
• US students will be first in the  world in science and math.
• Every American adult will be literate, and
• Every American school will be  free of drugs and violence.

The PTA mission is to

1. Support and speak on behalf of children,

2. Assist parents in developing the skills they need to raise their children, and

3. Encourage parent involvement in public schools.

(Information from The PTA Story: A Century of Commitment to Children, 1997)