There is no centralized accounting of how many New Yorkers owe their livelihood to public school PTAs. But parent association Web sites -- which often include lists of the activities parent dollars are now responsible for -- suggest that if you are an actress with an appetite for history, an entrepreneurial bongo drummer, a yoga instructor O.K. with teaching downward dog to 6-year-olds, even a skateboard champion looking to earn some extra cash, currying favor with the city’s better-off PTAs is just good business. Read More »

There have always been fathers involved in school PTAs, fund raising and education governance and politics. But as Kyle Spencer reported in The New York Times last week, these days there are not just more Dads involved in city school PTAs. The Dads are also putting their own stamp on the schools. Read about what is going on at Public School 11 William T. Harris in Chelsea, P.S. 110 Florence Nightingale on the Lower East Side, P.S. 75 Emily Dickinson on West End Avenue, P.S. 3 Charrette School in the West Village, P.S. 295 in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, P.S. 261 Philip Livingston in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, and in the Staten Island schools. Read More »

Music was thumping and ropes were whizzing across the gymnasium of Public School 75 Emily Dickinson on Friday morning, where champion double dutch jump-rope teams from Japan performed to honor the school’s latest health and exercise initiatives. Read More »