PTAlink Publishes Strengthening the Foundation: Recommendations to Empower Parent Organizations in NYC Public Schools

7.10.26 at 1:00 PM- New York Appleseed and its NYC PA/PTA support project PTAlink today released Strengthening the Foundation: Recommendations to Empower Parent Organizations in NYC Public Schools, a policy brief outlining ways to address disparities and resource gaps across PA/PTAs in NYC. The brief distills years of observations and frequently asked questions PTAlink has fielded in its efforts to support parent leaders across New York City.

PA/PTAs in New York City vary drastically in capacity, resources, and fundraising. While some operate as full-fledged nonprofit organizations, others focus less on fundraising––whether by choice or circumstance––and instead put their capacity into building community.

One of the more glaring disparities, however, is the gap between PA/PTAs raising thousands of dollars and others raising nothing at all. A recent ChalkbeatNY analysis found that just 30 schools raised nearly half of all PTA money reported to New York City Public Schools (NYCPS) in the 2024–25 school year, while roughly one-third of PA/PTAs raised nothing. Collectively, PA/PTAs ended the year holding more than $46.5 million in reserves, with some individual schools sitting on reserves above $1 million. Although New York City passed a PA/PTA reporting law, Local Law 171, to shine a light on these gaps, the brief highlights that there has been no substantive follow-up on the data it has produced.

“While fundraising is not the intended primary purpose of PA/PTAs, we have to be careful that it doesn't create disparate academic outcomes and supplant the political will to collectively demand equitable educational experiences for students in the largest single school district in the nation,” says Antonia Martinelli, PTAlink Coordinator at New York Appleseed. 

The brief recommends that a fundraising equity working group be formed to explore models for reforming fundraising practices. The group could, for example, assess whether existing rules on excessive reserves under Chancellor's Regulation A-660 need stronger enforcement, and examine ways the City could supplement funding for lower-income PA/PTAs that often lack the resources even to open a mandated bank account.

Beyond fundraising, the brief lays out twelve recommendations to strengthen parent leadership, including:

• Filling vacancies and improving support for Family Leadership Coordinators (FLCs) and Parent Coordinators (PCs). Eight of 45 districts currently lack an active FLC per the NYCPS website, and PC starting salaries hover just above $44,000 despite ever-expanding responsibilities.

• Restoring citywide training and orientation for PA/PTA leaders, which NYCPS has not offered in many years.

• Expanding translation and interpretation services so that PA/PTAs, often a family's first entry point into school leadership, are accessible to all families, regardless of home language.

• Reforming Chancellor's Regulation A-190 to guarantee meaningful PA/PTA engagement in school merger planning.

The full brief is available at https://bit.ly/PTAlinkBrief2026 .

About New York Appleseed

New York Appleseed advocates for integrated schools and communities throughout New York City and State. PTAlink, a project of New York Appleseed, is a technical assistance website and platform that supports thousands of parent leaders in an effort to improve the quality of education for all children in the New York City public school system by making parent organizations stronger and more effective.

Read the full brief here.

Read the Gothamist article covering this publication here.

Listen to the 1010 WINS interview with Antonia Martinelli here.