Volunteers such as Bonta are harder to come by these days. PTA numbers in Indiana have gone up and down. In 1995, there were 56,626 PTA members in the state. That number dropped below 52,000 by 1997, but membership has risen since then. In 1999, membership was listed at 56,377.
Demographics are partly to blame.
The old-fashioned PTA mom who baked cookies for class 40 years ago has been replaced by harried executives juggling their schedules on Palm Pilots and cell phones. Last year, a national survey found that only one in four parents of 1,000 surveyed were active in a parent-teacher group. The national PTA's biggest challenge is making its group relevant to parents. For example, more PTA meetings are now held at night, rather than during the school day, to accommodate working families. Parent groups are encouraged to recruit translators to assist non-English speaking parents.