August 25, 2017
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PTA President Applauds State Schools Chief’s Release of New State Guidelines to Improve Services for Students with Dyslexia
SACRAMENTO – New guidelines were released this week to assist teachers and parents in identifying students with dyslexia and to plan, provide, evaluate and improve education services. Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is neurobiological in origin and is characterized by difficulties with accurate word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. California State PTA President Dianna MacDonald issued the following statement:
“California State PTA is pleased State Superintendent Torlakson has released groundbreaking guidelines to assist an estimated 20 percent of the general population representing more than 1 million students in California public schools with this challenging learning disability.
I know firsthand how critically important early detection, planning and improving education services is to our students through California. I am dyslexic. I understand the struggles — but also the successes — that can be realized with strong public-school and family support.”
In 2016, California State PTA delegates adopted a comprehensive resolution supporting teacher/staff training necessary to improve the understanding of dyslexia as well as early screening for signs and symptoms of dyslexia in kindergarten through third grade. California State PTA will be sharing these important guidelines with our members statewide.
July 1, 2017
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Longtime PTA volunteer is new president of California’s largest child-advocacy organization
SACRAMENTO – Dianna MacDonald, a resident of Sonoma County, is the new president of California State PTA, leading the association of nearly 800,000 members in advocating for the education, health and welfare of California’s 9 million children.
MacDonald was elected to the 2017 – 2019 term of office, which begins July 1. In her new role, MacDonald will serve as chief executive officer of California State PTA and chairman of the Board of Directors. California State PTA is the nation’s largest and highest profile child-advocacy organization and strives to connect families, schools and communities.
MacDonald is a strong believer in the importance of family engagement and early-childhood education. She looks forward to working with stakeholders and members of the Education Coalition, as well as strengthening outreach to young Californians and their families.
“As the California State PTA’s new president, I will devote my time to supporting the PTA mission – to make a positive impact on the lives of all children and their families. Since 1897, PTA has been a crucial advocate for every single child, and I’m proud to be part of such an important organization,” said MacDonald.
MacDonald has served the PTA at the local, regional, and state levels in many roles, including family engagement advocate, leadership mentor and vice president for education. Her work with PTA has been focused on closing the achievement gap, early childhood education and supporting military families.
She and her husband Mike have three sons, and she credits PTA with teaching her how to be an advocate for her own children which led her to become an advocate for all children in California.
“I have seen first-hand the impact we make with changing laws to support children and families in California, and that’s powerful for me,” said MacDonald. “If it can change my life and my family’s, it can change others’ as well.”
- Dianna MacDonald, President
- Celia Jaffe, President-elect
- Tom Horn, Vice President for Leadership Services
- Carol Green, Vice President for Membership Services
- Brad Waller, Vice President for Communications
- Julie Redmond, Vice President for Special Events
- Shereen Walter, Vice President for Health & Community Concerns
- Mary Perry, Vice President for Education
- Lynn Miyamoto, Vice President for Family Engagement
- Deborah Johnson, Secretary
- Kathy Corzine, Treasurer
- Maggie Steel, Parliamentarian
- Lea Darrah, Director of Legislation
- Martha Deutsch, Chair of the District Presidents
- Sherry Skelly Griffith, Executive Director
California State PTA is continuing to move forward with its online membership system to make joining and renewing PTA membership at the local level easier for parents, families and community members.
With more than 90 percent of our local PTA leaders asking for a simplified electronic membership system in last year’s Unit Leader Survey, we heard you loud and clear! We are pleased to announce that California State PTA and Moonlight Labs are currently building out our membership system. The new system will be optional and make joining and renewing membership at local PTAs easy.
We have begun our quality assurance testing and the California State PTA Electronic Membership Task Force has identified the pilot districts to onboard into the new system. Additional districts will be added with a success-based model.
As a reminder, there are no changes to PTA’s membership process and the electronic system will be completely voluntary and an optional addition to our current system. We will keep you posted as we progress in this important work to build membership and strengthen PTA. Units, councils or districts will not be required to use the new system.
All of your feedback and input are being taken very seriously. Please feel free to send any questions or feedback to info@capta.org. We will keep you posted as we progress in this important work to build membership and strengthen PTA.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES