
DATE: Thursday, October 9, 1997             TAG: 9710090461

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL  

SOURCE: BY ELIZABETH SIMPSON, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:  130 lines

CORRECTION/CLARIFICATION: * Brenda Galen is on the Suffolk city-wide PTA. A story Thursday on school fund raising had her first name wrong. Correction published Friday, October 10, 1997. * FUND-RAISERS FOCUS OF AN INTERNAL DEBATE AMONG NATION'S PTAS THE PRACTICE IS WIDESPREAD AND RAISES THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS FOR SCHOOLS.

As surely as homework begins appearing in students' backpacks every fall, so do fund-raising packets pitching wrapping paper, peanuts and candy.

This year, however, the packets have raised more concern than in years past, partly due to the slaying of an 11-year-old New Jersey boy who was selling merchandise door-to-door for a school fund-raiser two weeks ago.

While the New Jersey incident raised concern about children's safety, it also pointed out a discrepancy between what the national PTA recommends and what local PTAs do.

The national PTA recommends against using fund raisers - particularly those involving private-venture companies - and says children and their families should not bear the burden for their schools' finances.

Still, the practice is widespread, with PTAs raising thousands of dollars every year for school extras like computers, playground equipment, field trips and cultural arts programs.

The reasons why vary. Some chapters feel a need to fill the gap between budgets and school needs. Others may be following in the footsteps of prior PTAs, or responding to teacher and principal requests. They may also be responding to parents who want their children to attend a school with all the amenities.

``Parents think if their kids don't have a computer at every desk, they're going to be behind. So they raise hundreds of thousands of dollars to get them,'' said Cathie Latta, a treasurer of the North Carolina state PTA. ``It's a sin that this goes on, and that we have not been better at standing tough and saying no.''

But saying no to fund-raisers means saying no to accelerated reader books and playground equipment and computers. At Fairfield Elementary in Virginia Beach, it would mean saying no to the $10,000 the PTA raises each year. That money has bought accelerated reading materials and school supplies for needy children. It also paid for curtains for the cafeteria/auditorium, said Robin Clements, a PTA member.

``The money buys things that make a school so much more special for children to learn in,'' said Sophia Stubblefield, the principal at Fairfield.

``It's very, very beneficial,'' said Julia Kidwell, the principal at Ghent Elementary in Norfolk. ``It's important in that it lets kids know that parents and teachers and kids are working together for them.''

No one knows exactly how much money local PTAs raise in Virginia because no one above the local level keeps track, and they are not required to report profits, which are tax-exempt, to any governmental agency.

But Dianne Florence, second assistant director of the Tidewater District PTA, said she has heard annual totals that range from $3,000 a year to $90,000, with some chapters using multiple fund-raisers to rake in even more.

``It is prevalent and it's a shame, because that's not what we're about,'' Florence said.

She wishes local chapters would spend more time on parent education seminars, community-building events like carnivals, and advocating for children before city and school boards.

``In an ideal world, there would be no need to fund-raise,'' said Barbara Galen, who is on the Suffolk city-wide PTA. But, she points out, even the act of getting PTA officials trained to advocate for children requires funding. ``To advocate for school nurses, parents' rights, to lobby for legislative issues takes money,'' she said.

Florence said the state and national PTAs are particularly concerned about fund-raisers that offer incentives for children in classes and schools that raise the most money. Even if written material included in the packets specifically warns against children going door-to-door, the incentives may cause children to do so anyway, in their zeal to win prizes.

Nancy Brinkman, a Virginia Beach parent, was upset when her first-grade daughter came home with a fund-raising packet and the selling fever. She said her daughter watched a film during school hours and was excited about trying to help earn money, and prizes, for the school.

``My daughter came running home all hyped up and rearing to go, until I told her, `No we're not going to do that.' ''

She said the fund-raising order form encouraged parents to take the form to work, but since Brinkman is a government worker, she couldn't do that. She felt like the fund-raising venture set her daughter up for failure. Brinkman wrote a letter to the editor saying the practice exploits children.

At the state and national level, meanwhile, leaders say the message to local divisions to keep fund-raising to a minimum has been difficult to drive home. PTAs have gotten used to having fund-raisers, and buying things for their schools. And officials at the local level often are subject to high turnover, so the national message doesn't always get through to them.

Florence said fund-raising has the effect of setting up disparities between poorer and more affluent neighborhoods. While Florence doesn't expect PTAs to stop raising funds, she said there are some clear dos and don'ts, including:

Children should not be pulled out of class for videos or pitches about fund raising.

PTAs should have a clear goal in mind before starting a fund-raiser, and then just raise money to that point.

PTAs should not be responsible for buying equipment like computers, which schools are obligated to supply to meet the state's new Standards of Learning on technology.

PTAs should balance the private-venture fund raisers with ones that are more community based, such as spaghetti dinners, sock hops and carnivals.

Clements said the death of the New Jersey boy has given her second thoughts about the practice of fund raising. Even though children are clearly warned against making sales alone or door-to-door, she worries about children, and parents, who don't heed that advice.

``You tell the kids not to go door-to-door, but you can't control that,'' Clements said. ``But if we don't raise funds, do the children suffer because they don't have the best resources they could have?''

Becky Elliot, a member of the Larchmont Elementary PTA, said that organization has tried during the past several years to move away from the private-venture fund-raisers and do more fund-raisers like book fairs and carnivals.

``Not just from the safety standpoint,'' Elliot said. ``But because the fund-raising can be annoying to parents.'' ILLUSTRATION: Edward Werner, 11, was slain while fund-raising

door-to-door in New Jersey. His death raised concerns about

children's safety.

At the national level: The national PTA recommends against

fund-raisers and says children and their families should not bear

the burden for schools' finances.

At the state level: Leaders say the message to local divisions to

keep fund raising to a minimum has been difficult to drive home.

At the local level: Fund raising is a widespread practice that

grosses thousands of tax-exempt dollars every year. At Fairfield

Elementary in Virginia Beach, the PTA raises $10,000 each year.