FINAL 2/15/13
2013 GAE CONSTITUTION AND BYLAWS COMMITTEE
PROPOSED AMENDMENTS RE: ETHNIC-MINORITY GUARANTEES
CONSTITUTION
Article IIIRepresentative Assembly
Section 2. Allocation of Delegates: The Representative Assembly shall be apportioned on the basis of one person-one vote, shall include Blacks and other ethnic minority representation at least in proportion to the number of ethnic minority members, shall include administrator representation at least in proportion to the number of administrator members, and shall include educational support professionals at least in proportion to the number of educational support professional members. The Assembly shall be composed of duly elected delegates from the local affiliates of the Association. The GAE Executive Officers, Board of Directors members, state affiliate presidents, and past presidents of GAE, GT and EA, and GEA shall serve as ex-officio members with voting rights.
Substitute:
The Representative Assembly shall be apportioned on the basis of one person-one vote. The Assembly shall be composed of duly elected delegates from the local affiliates of the Association. The GAE Executive Officers and each member of the GAE Board of Directors shall serve as ex-officio members with voting rights.
Article IIIRepresentative Assembly
Section 6. Functions: The Representative Assembly shall —
b. Elect the Executive Officers and such additional at-large representatives as may be needed for Educational Support Professional positions or to meet any shortfall in the number of ethnic minority andadministrator representatives that may be required on the Board of Directors.
Article IV Executive Officers
Section 4. Ethnic Minority Guarantee: If, after two consecutive terms, no Black has been elected as President, nominations at the subsequent Representative Assembly shall be restricted to that group. Further, at all times at least one of the three Executive Officers shall be Black.
ARTICLE V. Board of Directors
Section 1. Composition: The Board of Directors shall consist of the Executive Officers, GAE members who serve on the NEA Board of Directors, District Directors, and At-Large Directors, if any, elected to represent Educational Support Professional and GAE-Retired members or to meet ethnic minority andadministrator representational requirements, and Student-GAE members elected by the Student Spring Representative Assembly. The immediate past board member of a district shall serve as an alternate director when the present board member cannot attend a Board of Directors meeting. The immediate past At-Large Director(s) shall serve as alternate director(s) when the regular At-Large Director(s) cannot attend a Board of Directors meeting. Alternate At-Large Directors must meet the membership category requirements for the At-Large Director position while serving as the Alternate Director.
In the event there are no immediate past At-Large Directors, then, with the exception of At-Large Director positions held by GAE-Retired and Educational Support Professionals, they shall be nominated by delegates to the Representative Assembly, and shall be elected at the Representative Assembly for a term which shall coincide with the term of the regular At-Large Director. Educational Support Professional candidates for At-Large Director shall be nominated only by Educational Support Professionals who are delegates but shall be voted on by all delegates. GAE-Retired candidates shall be nominated only by GAE-Retired members and shall be voted on in a statewide election only by statewide GAE-Retired members. At-Large members of the Board of Directors shall include black and other ethnic minority representation at least in proportion to the number of black and other ethnic minority members, andshall include administrator representation in direct proportion to the number of administrator members.
ARTICLE VI. Executive Committee
Section 1. Composition: The Executive Committee shall consist of the Executive Officers
and two additional members elected through secret balloting by and from the members of the
Board of Directors. At least two members of the Executive Committee shall be Black or other
ethnic minority.
ARTICLE VII. Compliance and Review Board
Section 1. Authority:
c. The review of the apportionment of ethnic minority and administrator representation
throughout GAE governance to assure that GAE governing bodies comply with these
guarantees.this guarantee.
Section 2. Composition: The Compliance and Review Board shall be composed of five (5) members who shall be appointed by the President with the approval of the Board of Directors. At least two (2) members shall be Black. Other ethnic minorities shall be represented in proportion to their membership in the Association.
BYLAWS
3. REPRESENTATIVE ASSEMBLY
3-1 Allocation of Delegates. Allocation of delegate credentials shall be on the basis of Active,Educational Support Professional, Student, and GAE-Retired membership on record in theAssociation as of January 15 for a Representative Assembly held in the Spring. If a FallAssembly is held, then the record membership shall be as of August 1. Each local unit shallhave adelegate for each thirty-five (35) Active members or major fraction thereof. Allocationofdelegates for Educational Support Professional members shall be based on the ratio of 1:35Educational Support Professional members or major fraction thereof. No unit shall have lessthan one (1) delegate and such delegate may be either an Active or Educational SupportProfessional as elected by all the local unit members. Allocation of delegates for Studentmembers shall be based on the ratio of 1:250 Student members or major fraction thereof.
Allocation of delegates for GAE-Retired members shall be based on the ratio of 1:70 GAERetired members or major fraction thereof. A delegate elected to represent a local shall be amember of that affiliate. Ethnic minority delegates shall be elected from each local at least in proportion to the number of ethnic minority members in the affiliate.
Bylaw 5 Board of Directors
5-2 Ethnic Minority Representation. In the event, the proportion of ethnic minority representation on the Board falls below the requirements of the Constitution, at-large elections will be held to fill positions on the Board to meet the constitutional requirements. Elections for at-large ethnic minority representatives to the Board will be conducted at the same Representative Assembly at which the elections for Executive Officers are held.
5-8 Functions. The Board of Directors shall —
b. Provide for ethnic minority representation on all committees over which it has direct control;
Ensure that appointments to committees over which it has direct control will be as inclusive as possible and reflect the diversity of the membership.
5-9 Vacancies.
c. A vacancy in an At-large Director position shall be filled by vote of the Board of Directors from among candidates from the respective ethnic minority,administrator, Educational Support Professional or GAE-Retired members represented by the vacancy. The newly elected director shall serve until the Representative Assembly elects At-large Directors at its next scheduled at-large elections, or
Bylaw 7 Affiliations
7-2 Standards for Local Associations. The Association shall not affiliate a local association
unless it meets the following minimum standards.
a. Each local association shall apply the one person-one vote principle for representation on its governing bodies except that the local association shall take such steps as are legally permissible to achieve ethnic-minority representation at least proportionate to its ethnicminority membership;
Bylaw 9 Standing Committees
9-2 Composition and Term of Office. Unless otherwise designated in these Bylaws or by theBoard of Directors, each standing committee shall be composed of between ten (10) and twelve (12) members, with no more than two (2) from any district andno fewer than one (1)two (2) members from each GAE district. Standing committee members shall serve three (3) year terms on astaggered basis as prescribed by the Board of Directors. Each Committee shall be composed ofat least 75% classroom teachers except the Administrator Concerns Committee which shall becomposed of at least 75% administrators, and the ESP Committee which shall be composed ofat least 75% ESPs.and each committee shall reflect Black and other ethnic minority membership at least in proportion to their numbers. Care shall be taken to ensure geographicrepresentation on all appointive bodies.
Rationale: These amendments reduce the Association’s risk for liability. The Association is committed to maintaining racial and ethnic inclusion, diversity, and equal employment opportunitiesat all levels of elected and appointive governance, staff, and membership of the
Association. The Association reaffirms its commitment to providing equal employment opportunitieswithout regard to race, religion, national origin, gender, age, sexual orientation, disability, marital status, or economic background, and to base all employment decisions only on valid job requirements.