Why Vote on the Legislation Program?

What is one of the most important benefits of your PTA membership? It is your right to vote on the Proposed Legislation Program (PLP)! Why is this important? It is important because the PLP contains items that directly affect your child.

Each August, a mailing from the State Office is sent to all local unit presidents. This mailing includes the PLP. Each District across the state holds a meeting to explain the PLP to local presidents and Legislative chairperson who in turn presents the PLP to their membership. The membership then votes on each item of the PLP.

Why is this vote so important? In past years, the Virginia PTA has sought legislation to address a wide variety of issues. Your vote is important because each and every vote counts. When seeking legislation from the General Assembly, it is inevitable that someone will ask “How many of your members voted in favor of this issue?” It is hard to convince someone that our association is really concerned about an issue when only 10% of the membership voted on the PLP last year. Obviously, the more members voting, the more legislators will believe we are really committed on a position.
One of the best things about PTA is our collective ability to look at the “big picture”. What separates the PTA from other parent organizations like a PTO or PTF is that the PTA works for all children with a state and national agenda, whereas the PTO and PTF work only for a specific school.

The Virginia PTA strives to help all children. We know that great things can be accomplished with a little bit of effort. If your local unit did not vote on the PLP last year, PLEASE vote this year. If you have been voting, don’t stop. It is that little bit of effort that shows we are truly “making a difference for children”.