Visit the Leaders’ Website for additional information on parliamentary procedure.
Parliamentary law is an orderly set of rules for conducting meetings of organized groups for the purpose of accomplishing their goals fairly.
Principles of parliamentary law are:
- Justice and courtesy to all
- Rights of the minority protected;
- Rule of the majority reflected
- Partiality to none
- Consideration of one subject at a time.
- Robert’s Rules of Order, Newly Revised, is the parliamentary text that governs the PTA where the PTA bylaws do not apply. The California State PTA Bylaws and Bylaws for Local PTA/PTSA Units always take precedence over Robert’s Rules of Order.
A parliamentarian can assist the president when questions of procedure arise. If a parliamentarian is not appointed and ratified, the president should appoint one (pro tem) for each meeting to assist the president in conducting an orderly meeting.
The Leaders’ Website provides extensive information on how to use parliamentary procedure to help PTA meetings go smoothly and fairly. The information includes:
- Some key terminology leaders need to know.
- Explanations about how motions work, including amendments, plus aids like a printable pdf to share with attendees.
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- A motion chart created especially for PTAs based on Roberts Rules of Order
- Answers to frequently asked questions
- Additional resources for digging deeper, including a PTA Parliamentarian job description and even a quiz!