Member Services

Are you interested in supporting your child? Do you have concerns about the health and safety of children and youth and the educational opportunities available to them? Would you like to be more involved in encouraging your children's growth?

If so, you're the kind of parent we need. We're the New York State PTA! We support better education, greater parent involvement, better resources, and safer schools for every child. Advocacy, education, training and support are key areas that are our focus. Working together we can accomplish more than individuals could accomplish separately.

When you join PTA, you join almost 6 million others nation-wide and over 365,000 New York members who care about issues that affect children and youth: such as substance abuse, violence, media and TV viewing, safety, the environment, schools and academic achievement.

PTA membership means:

• Making a difference in the lives of children and youth, common goals and strategies offer support to individual members
• Being an advocate for appropriate legislation to improve laws, policies, and conditions on behalf of children.  Working together increases the opportunity for influencing legislation
• Obtaining valuable information, news, and services to keep you abreast of key issues affecting children. There are many challenges facing education in New York, including the implementation of standards and No Child Left Behind Act and the ongoing state aid funding crises.

The benefits of Local PTA Membership

Make an investment in your child's future by:

• Networking with others with common interests
• Advocating for better conditions for children and families
• Promoting quality education and a meaningful partnership between home and school
• Supporting the importance of the arts
• Working together to increase opportunities in your child's schools
• Encouraging community involvement
• Fostering a healthy environment and safe neighborhoods

Influence Decisions that Affect the Welfare of Your Child

• Parent involvement programs that promote parent and family participation in education

• Adequate funding for public education

• Violence prevention in schools, on television, and on the Internet

• Drug-free schools and communities

Develop and Expand Your Skills Personally and Professionally

• Speaking in public
• Conducting effective meetings
• Planning successful events and programs
• Developing partnerships with other education and health organizations and groups

  
  

Obtain Resources on Child-Related Issues

• Resources that encourage and support parent/family involvement
• Ideas for more effective parent-teacher conferences 
• Suggestions for positive development of a child's self esteem
• Programs for promoting school, bike and personal safety

Benefits Available to Local Units

Units are part of the local region, New York State PTA and National PTA.

As such they receive:

• Tax exempt 501(c)3 status
• Materials and information for training and general support
• Training opportunities at local and state levels
• A network of support through region and state levels
• Opportunity to communicate with others on common goals or problems , don't have to reinvent the wheel
• Advocacy at local, State and National level

Membership is open to anyone concerned with the education, health, and welfare of children and youth. We encourage everyone to join PTA at these challenging times to work together for children. If you would like to join a PTA, you have two options:

Check with your local school to find out if they have a PTA and join that unit.  Or, contact the New York State PTA Office to obtain information about a unit in your school district.

Join the Empire State PTSA. Empire State PTSA is a state wide PTA that has the common PTA goals and access to information, but is not tied to an individual school district. The New York State PTA Office has forms for joining Empire State.

If there are no PTAs in your school district or in your local school, but you and others would like to form a unit, please contact our office at 1-877-5NYSPTA and we will work with you to establish one.