“Ten Years Will Make a Revolution”: The Legacy of the Women’s Association for the Betterment of Public Schoolhouses
By 1905, news of North Carolina’s WABPS programs spread to teachers at the Summer School of the South in Knoxville, Tennessee which quickly led to the creation of the Interstate Association for the Betterment of Public School Houses. By 1907, state chapters modeled after the WABPS of North Carolina had organized in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.
By 1906, 1,133 rural schoolhouses had been built in North Carolina for a total cost of $490,272 (roughly $14,122,499 today). The value of public school property in the state almost doubled from $1,466,770 ($42,250,952 today) to $2,632,659 ($75,834,895 today).
By 1908, 58 out of the 98 counties in North Carolina reported associations (with many having more than one). By 1909 the number had risen to 72.
In 1919, many local branches of the WABPS dissolved into the newly formed National Congress of Mothers and Parent-Teacher Associations. In 1924 this organization changed its name to the North Carolina Congress of Parents and Teachers (NCCPT).
In 1921, the General Assembly of North Carolina sanctioned the Negro Division of the Department of Public Instruction. Annie Holland (c. 1871-1934), a black teacher and organizer, formed the North Carolina Congress of Colored Parents and Teachers (NCCCPT) in 1927.
Both the NCCPT and NCCCPT worked towards many of the same goals set forth by the WABPS. They sought to improve local schools and beautify school grounds, promote the health of school children, and provide various forms of entertainment (musical instruments, books, and toys) for schoolhouses.
In 1954, the racial segregation of public schools was ruled unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court in the landmark case of Brown v. Board of Education. Schools across the state slowly integrated but it would take years for parent-teacher associations to integrate as well.
In 1969, the NCCPT and NCCCPT finally merged to form the North Carolina Parent-Teachers Association (PTA). Their scope has expanded far beyond what was set forth by the WABPS in 1902. The PTA now addresses issues such as early childhood education, daycare, sex education, school violence, and drug and alcohol abuse.
More recently, the PTA has organized some local Parent-Teacher-Student Associations (PTSAs) to bring students into conversations about school improvement. Through these PTSAs, some schools have developed new methods of teaching, and many have begun pushing for more diversity and inclusion.