PTA Suit Claims Deception by For-Profit Parent-Teacher Group

The National Parent Teacher Association, a fixture in the American education landscape for more than a century, filed suit Wednesday against a for-profit rival, PTO Today, claiming it uses to deception to siphon off PTA members, the Associated Press reports.

The nonprofit PTA, founded in 1897, has seen membership drop from 12 million in the 1960s to less than half that today. It accuses PTO Today, a subsidiary of commercial firm School Family Media, of false advertising, trademark infringement, and other deceptive practices aimed at drumming up business and luring people from the older group.

The suit seeks unspecified damages and a judicial order that PTO Today destroy business cards and other materials that allegedly suggest an association with the PTA.

PTO Today, founded in 1999, offers insurance, advice, and other services to parent-teacher organizations. Tim Sullivan, head of School Family Media, said the company has not to blame for the PTA’s woes, noting, “Their membership started to drop years before our company was in existence.”