ALABAMA PTA BIENNIAL LEGISLATIVE POLICY STATEMENT 

 

2014-2016

 

The Alabama PTA (PTA) biennial statement is the primary authority for public policy action and statements taken by PTA on federal and state legislation, administration policies and regulations, and judicial rulings.

 

Family Engagement in Education- PTA will:

 

Identify, support and create legislative and regulatory provisions that advance and promote the PTA National Standards for Family-School Partnerships;

 

Support, expand, and improve parent involvement policies in federal and state legislation, administrative regulations/policies and relevant cases considered by the federal and state court system;

 

Support and promote legislative and regulatory provision that promote effective family engagement in education strategies;

 

Support, expand, and improve school-linked parent resource centers and similarly purposed programs or agencies;

 

Support, expand, and improve methods to encourage and prepare teachers to engage parents effectively and frequently.

 

Public Education – PTA will:

 

Support efforts to ensure public funds are used exclusively for public schools;

 

Support, expand, and improve efforts to increase funding to provide quality education for all students;

 

Support and improve accountability in the enforcement of district and school level development and implementation of parental involvement plans required by federal and state law and regulations;

 

Support and improve programs that recruit, develop, and retain highly qualified educators;

 

Support and improve student preparation for and access to post-secondary education and the workforce;

 

Support efforts to facilitate the use of multiple assessments for evaluating student growth and performance, and decrease the emphasis on high-stakes testing, while maintaining accountability for student achievement;

 

Support and improve legislative provisions, executive branch regulations, judicial actions that ensure accountability for the academic achievement of minority students and students from low income families;

 

Support and improve federal and state legislative, administrative, and judicial actions that provide timely, accurate, complete information to parents enabling them to be better engaged in their child’s education, including clarification of their rights, roles, and responsibilities;

 

Support, expand, and improve access to high quality early childhood education and after-school programs;

 

Support continued efforts to sustain current early childhood education initiatives and to support availability of quality preschool programs to all children

 

Support and expand efforts to modernize school facilities and provide a healthy environment for students, teachers and other school personnel.

 

Media and Technology Safety – PTA will:

 

Support, expand and improve policies, regulations and legislation that better enable parents to be informed and engaged in the use of the Internet, wireless communications, and the selection of media by children and youth;

 

Support and improve non-legislative, industry responses to media-technology safety needs of children and youth as an alternative to formal legislative and regulatory action;

 

Support the development of improved media-technology tools for parents that are user-friendly, universal, accurate, and informative;

 

Support and improve efforts to limit significantly advertising to children, particularly the use of familiar characters from animated television shows and movies for commercial promotions.

 

Child Health and Wellness – PTA will:

 

Support, expand, and improve child nutrition, health, and wellness practices and programs, including health insurance coverage for children in low-income families;

 

Support legislation and initiatives to expand and fund staffing of school nurses;

 

Support efforts to provide adequate time and opportunity for physical fitness in all schools and recess in all elementary schools;

 

Support and improve efforts to limit significantly advertising to children, particularly related to the promotion of unhealthy foods and drinks;

 

Support legislation and initiatives that are designed to promote child safety on the highways and reduce injuries caused by distracted drivers, such as reasonable restrictions on cellular phone usage while driving for all drivers;

 

Support legislation and other initiatives that are designed to promote child safety and reduce child abuse, child exploitation and bullying, and to increase the awareness of the affects of mental health issues and concerns.

 

Arts Education – PTA will:

 

Support and expand legislation and changes in executive agency regulations that include arts education in core requirements for a high quality, comprehensive public education;

 

Support, expand and improve activities that prepare teachers to incorporate the arts into the curriculum of other academic subjects to supplement and engage student learning.