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What comes to mind when you think about the PTA - bake sales and school fairs? Local PTAs are often involved in such activities.

But did you know that the National PTA is also the largest volunteer child advocacy organization in the country? Working in cooperation with many national education, health, safety and child advocacy groups and federal agencies, the group provides parents and families with a powerful voice to speak on behalf of every child.

Betsy Landers was installed as President of the National PTA in June 2011, and has served on both state and local PTAs as well. She recently took the time to tell us more about the group, its advocacy efforts and where she hopes to focus during her tenure as President.

Public School Insights: You served as both a local PTA president and as Tennessee PTA president before coming to the National PTA. How have your experiences on those levels impacted the role you see for the National PTA?

Landers: It has afforded me invaluable grassroots experience.  Having served at the various levels of our PTA governance structure (from the local unit level to the state level) has helped me to experience National PTA's impact at each of these levels. It has also given me valuable insight into the needs of our leadership and membership at those levels.  Our members at the grassroots level are the heartbeat of this association.  This is where the true impact of our work is done.

Public School Insights: How has the role of the PTA shifted during your involvement with the organization, at both the local and the federal level? What sorts of challenges are unique to the current context?

Landers: Our advocacy efforts, whether on Capitol Hill or at the local board of education level, remains the hallmark of our impact on behalf of ...

Editor's Note: Our guest blogger today is Anne Foster. Anne is Executive Director of Parents for Public Schools, a national organization of community-based chapters that promotes and strengthens public schools by engaging, educating and mobilizing parents.

For parents of public school children in America, the conversation around public schools is critical. They have the shortest window of time to make sure their kids’ schools are good and that schools have the resources needed for a quality education. But the conversation about public schools today is either non-existent or extremely polarized.  It’s time to change the conversation and come together across political lines to find solutions.

Things used to be simpler.  Our public schools were central to our way of life.  They became our foundation, and every community was built around one.  We came to understand that a strong America meant good public schools for all of our children. Public education meant claiming the American dream.  Teachers garnered honor and respect, and ...

While it continues to be my firm belief that the changes and improvement we’re all working towards in public education will take a collaborative effort of parents, educators, community members, policymakers and students themselves, I was reminded last week that collaborative efforts never get off the ground without inspired leadership when the NASSP announced the 2012 National High School Principal and 2012 National Middle School Principal of the Year.  Both Michael Foran, Principal of New Britain High School in New Britain, CT, and Linda Archambault, Principal of R.O. Gibson Middle School in Las Vegas, NV, the 2012 winners, assumed leadership of two troubled schools five years ago and both have succeeded in changing the culture of the school in ways that have resulted in improved working conditions for the professionals and impressive achievement gains for the students they serve.

Michael Foran began his leadership of the largest high school in the state of Connecticut by making swift and necessary changes to improve the urban school’s climate.  He established a working environment based on collaboration and open communication, teacher engagement and stakeholder involvement.  With a high minority population, Foran wanted to ...

This piece was initially written for ARTSBlog as part of their recent blog salon, a collection of 30 posts by arts education leaders in celebration of National Arts in Education Week (September 11-17, 2011). View the original posting here.

Editor's note: Our guest blogger today is Brad Hull. Brad is currently Deputy Executive Director at the National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE, a Learning First Alliance member). He holds advanced degrees in both education administration and music, and his experience extends from classical music performer, to college instructor, policy maker, national association manager, education researcher, and administrator. For more, see www.bradleyjhull.com.

I grew up in a small conservative town in Pennsylvania. As a budding piano player, my entire focus was on the great hymns of the faith, playing in church every Sunday.

The first time I had ever memorized a piece of classical music was in preparation for my college entrance auditions.

With this small bit of information about me, you can well imagine the sight of me as a very green, frightened, and shy freshman, entering the halls of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music as a piano major, walking around the three floors of practice rooms hearing incredible music emanating from almost every one. On top of that, due to a lack of attention to technique, I had developed tendonitis the summer before.

My piano teacher was phenomenal and we studied the Chopin Nocturne in D-Flat, op. 27 no. 2 for the entire year. Little did I know that these were lessons not only about Chopin, but also about living and working. Here are a few things that I learned:

1. The best things in life require attention, presence, and care. Don’t take anything for granted. Chopin ended the phrase on the half beat for a reason. Turning this ...