First PTA meetings are usually pretty boring; unfortunately, the first general meeting must be about reviewing the bylaws & getting the budget approved so that the PTA is able to do things for the school. We tried to make last year's better by offering a pasta dinner (still had complaints - from the teachers! - that the PTA meeting part was boring. I'm sorry to everyone from all of the PTA, but that's what it HAS to be about). This year our school is doing pizza & a (brief) program, along with the meeting (people will still complain about it being boring).
Obviously your child's school has particular needs, and the purpose of the PTA is to make sure that ALL children, regardless of race, religion, family finances, etc., have equal access to the best education the facility is able to provide. If your child is a decent student, he is perceived to be getting the education he needs (while there are others who need something more - the focus of the school will always be to improve grades as a whole). The teachers will do evaluations of each individual student & they really do their best to break them out into different reading level groups, etc.
The best thing that you can do, if you have the time, is to volunteer in the classroom. Register with your volunteer coordinator to be approved to help with students; you may have to watch a confidentiality video (5 minutes) to work with children. You can then discuss with the teacher about running a breakout group of students to work on letter sounds, number recognition, Sunshine Math, something.
And please join the PTA - a lot of people don't understand that the PTA is there to provide programs to educate all the students, raise funds to improve technology at the school, and offer fun activities like a movie night or carnival. PTA can't do that if nobody joins & supports them. The parents have to be willing to put in time & work together to create a supportive, encouraging environment for all the children together. If you join the PTA, work with them on making the meetings better - suggest that the hospitality chair plan for food to be served (no hospitality chair? You can do it!), and ask the programs chair what kind of program can be added to the evening (MANY programs are FREE through local hospitals, fire stations, police departments). Stick blank paper & crayons on a table for the kids to color. We're doing our best to make our meetings more interesting (we've had sadly low attendance for several years - it's only gotten better since last year).
Our PTA board is perceived by others as "cliquey" - I'm not sure why - we didn't know each other before being voted onto the board together, our kids aren't in the same grade, we don't go to lunch or shopping outside of school - we are only working together for the best of the school. I think the perception of it being a "clique" is an unfortunate designation stemming from movies & TV, and not real life. You do spend a lot of time together in meetings, planning events, etc., and that gives you a certain level of camaraderie, but it's a good thing. At our school we are always trying to get new people to be a part, because the more people working together, the better job we do, more programs we can offer. Don't get down on your PTA, get involved with it to make it better -
SAC (Student Advisory Council) is something you might be interested in, as well. See if your school has a SAC committee & they may be able to address some of your concerns about what your son is learning, what is being offered.
Good luck -
P.S. PTA does more than just "decorate" & provide "pep rallies" - because school budgets have been cut so severely, who do you think pays for the teachers' TDEs over the summer? Purchases school supplies & covers cafeteria costs for those children whose families are unable to provide for them? Purchases new computers, printers, overhead projectors, Smart Boards, etc., so that the whole school has access to technology? Buys books for the library? The PTA. THAT's what our fundraisers are for.