Families & the Community

‘Even School Groups Are Being Manipulated by Big Insurance’

By Andrew L. Yarrow — November 15, 2010 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

This was the message that a local PTA leader recently sent me.

In the state in which I live, I’m told that PTAs are “forced"—that is, required—to carry insurance. It calls to mind my last blog entry, which was about a father in California suing his child’s school PTA.
0
According to my local source, PTAs are being asked to jump through hoops by their insurance companies, particularly when they are sponsoring athletic activities. (Yes, in some crazy scheme of things, basketball can be dangerous, but so can going into work—both of which pale beside driving a car.)

“Specifically red-lighted are all enrichment programing involving athletics,” writes this exasperated elementary-school PTA leader. If this weren’t bad enough, the PTA’s insurance carrier has stipulations about babysitter coverage during PTA meetings if it is to cover any liability. According to the missive I received, to be covered, “if you have babysitting during a PTA meeting you must have two unrelated adults and a 10-1 ratio; no diaper changes, no hot liquids.”

It’s not just AIG or health insurers. Insurance companies appear to be squirreling into ever more obscure, seemingly tame corners of our lives to tell us that liability for everything lies in our laps.

Do insurers really need to scare us that we wouldn’t be covered for an accident during a PTA meeting if a parent had to change his or her toddler’s diaper?

A version of this news article first appeared in the K-12, Parents & the Public blog.

Events

Teaching Profession K-12 Essentials Forum Supporting the New K-12 Workforce: What Teachers Need to Stay at School
 Join this free virtual event to discover what teachers say they need to feel supported to stay in classrooms for the long haul.
College & Workforce Readiness K-12 Essentials Forum Career and Technical Education Takes Its Next Big Step
Join this free virtual event to hear creative approaches to modernize CTE programs and navigate the shift away from a near-exclusive focus on "college preparedness."

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Families & the Community Lawmakers Grill Superintendents on Transgender Student Policies
The districts' policies around transgender students were repeatedly questioned.
5 min read
WASHINGTON,DC - JUNE 10: Dr. Macquline King, Superintendent and CEO of Chicago Public Schools speaks with Mr. Johnathan Smith, Managing Director, Education and Federal Strategic Advocacy, National Center for Youth Law and Dr. Aaron Spence, Superintendent, Loudoun County Public Schools with US Representative Mark Takano, Democrat from California, before a House Education and Workforce Committee hearing titled “Breaking Trust: Attacks On Parental Rights, Inappropriate Content, And Legal Abuses In America’s Schools” on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, June 10, 2026 in Washington, DC.
Chicago Superintendent Macquline King speaks with Johnathan Smith, the managing director for education and federal strategic advocacy at the National Center for Youth Law, and Loudon County, Va. Superintendent Aaron Spence, before a hearing on parents rights in schools on Capitol Hill on June 10, 2026 in Washington.
Jabin Botsford/For Education Week
Families & the Community Quiz QUIZ: Teachers, How Ready Are You for Difficult Parent Conversations?
Test your knowledge of how to approach challenging academic or behavior issues with families.
1 min read
Contemporary art collage of human hand holding dialogue bubble. Concept of communication, news, chat. Dialog importance.
Vanessa Solis/Education Week + iStock
Families & the Community Q&A How Parents See Students' Social Media Habits: Why it Matters for Educators
The Pew Research Center shows parents have increasing concern over their teens' social media usage.
5 min read
Gabriela Durham, 17, uses her phone to listen to music inside her room on Saturday, Jan. 27, 2024, in New York. Concerns about children and phone use are not new. But there is a growing realization among experts that the COVID-19 pandemic fundamentally changed the relationship kids have with social media. As youth coped with isolation and spent excessive time online, the pandemic effectively carved out a much larger space for social media in the lives of American children.
Gabriela Durham, 17, uses her phone to listen to music inside her room on Saturday, Jan. 27, 2024, in New York. A report shows how parents feel about their teens' social media use and an expert comments on what schools can do with the information.
Andres Kudacki/AP
Families & the Community Teacher-Parent Meetings Can Be Tense. Can AI Simulations Help?
Rehearsals on how to talk effectively with parents can ease a major pain point for teachers.
7 min read
TK
A teacher participates in a pilot project aimed at improving parent-teacher communication through AI-based simulations. Parent avatars respond to educators in real time through speech and body language.
Branch Alliance for Educator Diversity