With a democratic socialist in City Hall, a prominent education group is urging Mayor Zohran Mamdani to consider leveling the playing field between “have and have-not” PTAs.

City data shows that out of roughly 1,200 schools, 16 PTAs brought in more than $1 million. Nearly 400 schools reported no money for PTAs at all. The PTA with the highest reported income in the city in the 2024-25 school year was PS 29 in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, with more than $3 million.

A recent analysis by Chalkbeat found that 30 schools raised nearly half of all PTA money.

New York Appleseed, which advocates for integrated schools, recommended in a report released Thursday that Mamdani’s administration take a more assertive role to address the vast disparities among PTAs. Wealthy parent groups are able to fund teaching assistants in classrooms, after-school programs, and enrichment like chess, special science programming or ballroom classes.

“Our recommendation is to really think about whether there is a better way that we could distribute funds,” said Nyah Berg, executive director at New York Appleseed.

The report says the working group should explore “ways the city could supplement funding” for PTAs to counter address the vast inequality.

Berg noted that the data shows PTAs also ended the school year with a surplus of funds totaling $45 million in reserves.

“Our recommendation is to create a working group to really think [about whether] there is a better way that we could distribute funds so that we don't have nearly $50 million sitting in reserves that could be better dispersed for students.”

The group operates a resource hub for PTAs called PTAlink.

The new report highlights the fundraising gap between school-based parent organizations where some PTAs serve affluent families and raise millions of dollars a year, while many don’t raise any money at all.

Berg said the data illustrates a “story of the haves and have-nots” and deepens inequities in the public school system.

“Every year we say, ‘Oh, yes, there's these major disparities, but we haven't really figured out a mechanism of what to do about it,” Berg said. “Well, what are possible solutions?” she said.

Parent associations are composed of elected parent leaders who, according to the education department, should serve as advocates, conduits of information, and run activities for the school community.

Shirley Aubin, a longtime parent leader from Queens, said PTAs aren’t all about fundraising. When she served on the PTA at her daughter’s former schools, the groups didn’t raise much money at all. She said that PTA supported the schools in lower-cost ways, holding a series of workshops on issues including vaping, social media and cyberbullying. “Fundraising is not the primary role of a parent association,” she said. “Not everyone can fundraise. The PTA should be the vehicle for the parents’ voice.”

But at some of the more affluent public schools, elegant galas and silent auctions are marquee events.

Manhattan parent Amy Andresen said her son’s previous school, which brought in more than $1 million a year, featured auctions where people could bid on a week at a family’s second home in the Hamptons.

Now Andresen is co-president at PS 145’s PTA in Morningside, where a majority of students come from low-income families.

“Our community can’t afford that and doesn’t have that,” she said of summer homes and vacations at far-flung destinations. Instead the auction at her school includes a chance to make waffles with a favorite teacher, a $20 gift certificate to a local restaurant, or a week of summer camp donated by a neighborhood program.

All told, the PS 145 PTA brought in $200,000 over the course of the last school year, still a hefty sum compared to the citywide median PTA income of around $3,600. The money raised by the PTA at PS 145 will cover teaching assistants for kindergarten and first grade classrooms, a chess program, and some treats for educators during teacher appreciation week.

“I think it’s unfortunate that where the child lives gives them access to a better resourced school,” Andresen said, adding that some local parents have been looking at ways PTAs in diverse communities can support each other.

Claire Mackevicius, assistant professor of education policy and equity at the University of Oregon, said some school districts require PTAs to pool some of their resources.

In Portland, Oregon, there’s a cap on how much individual schools can raise and spend on their own communities. A portion of the income above the cap goes to a fund that is distributed throughout the district, according to Mackevicius.

Under the administration of former NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio, a school diversity working group also called for a task force to study PTA equity, but that never materialized.

The Appleseed report says another way the city could improve equity among PTAs is to enhance training, resources and translation services for members.

“The recommendations are to bolster the infrastructure that supports parent leaders specifically,” Berg said.