New York State Association
for Bilingual Education

CONSTITUTION

Preamble

WHEREAS, in a multilingual multicultural society, language is one of the most obvious cultural characteristics of its people, and WHEREAS, it is understood that a truly important part of the total process of learning in our society is the awareness and appreciation of bilingualism and biculturalism as integral components of cultural pluralism in this society, THEREFORE, we who are advocates of bilingual education and are interested in the promotion, progress and the implementation of effective programs, unite to bring our common efforts into one fraternal organization.

Article I - Name

The name of this organization shall be the New York State Association for Bilingual Education, hereinafter referred to as NYSABE.

Article II - Affiliations

It is an affiliate of National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE) a national professional organization for the purpose of recognizing, promoting and publicizing excellence in bilingual education.

Article III - Purpose

NYSABE is a non-profit organization which operation is exclusively for educational purposes including the making of distributions to organizations that qualifies as an exempt organization under Section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 or any future federal tax code. All monies of the organization shall only be disbursed in the support of the purposes of this organization and shall not be disbursed to any member of the organization for his or her private gain.

The purpose of NYSABE is to encourage the establishment, maintenance, and expansion of quality programs of bilingual education through which students will be provided with the opportunity to develop bilingualism;

to promote bilingual education as a logical educational process and approach by which success on the part of all students is enhanced through learning in their first language while they are learning to function in their second language;

to promote recognition by the total community of the importance of bilingualism and its contributions toward better understanding among people; and

to promote bilingual instruction, with recognition that the teaching of language skills and the enhancement of conceptual growth is most meaningful and ef-fective when presented with an awareness and appreciation of the strengths of cultural and linguistic differences among people.

BY-LAWS

Section I. MEMBERSHIP

The privilege of membership to NYSABE is available to all persons and groups that are interested in bilingual education, supportive of NYSABE's purposes, goals and objectives, and willing to abide by these By-laws, and who make payment of annual membership dues. All individual members in good standing, shall be entitled to voting privileges. Membership will run for a period of one year.

A. CATEGORIES - There shall be four categories of membership as described below.

1. REGULAR - This category will include individuals directly & involved in the education profession such as teachers, supervisors, administrators, consultants and professors. Regular & members who have paid their membership by March 1 are eligible for nomination for positions on the Delegate Assembly.

2. ASSOCIATE - This category will include individuals preparing to become certified professionals in the educational field such as full time students and paraprofessionals. It will also include members of the community at large interested in supporting the work of the association. An associate member will have all the benefits of a regular member and may remain in this category for a period no longer than three years. Professionals in the field of education are not eligible for this membership category.

3. INSTITUTIONAL - This category will include organizations and institutions interested in supporting the purposes and the work of the association. Institutional members will receive all NYSABE publications and may register one representative at members rate at the annual conference. Institutional members will be designated as non-voting members with the privilege of voice in all deliberations.

4. COMMERCIAL - This category will include commercial and business enterprises interested in supporting the purposes and the work of the association. Commercial members will be designated as non-voting members with the privilege of voice in all deliberations.

B. MEETINGS -

1. There will be an annual meeting of the membership of the Association called by the Executive Board conducted during the Annual Conference.

2. The Executive Board shall convene the Delegate Assembly at least four times a year.

3. The Executive Board shall conduct monthly meetings to carry out the business of the Association.

4. The Executive Board shall convene other meetings as needed.

Section II. DELEGATE ASSEMBLY

The association will have a Delegate Assembly composed of individuals elected on the basis of geographical, special interests, language/ethnic representation and/or ancestry.

A. Categories and Numbers of Delegates - There will be four categories of delegates as follows:

1. REGIONAL DELEGATES - A total of twelve (12) regional delegates will be elected as follows: Two (2) to be elected from Long Island, New York City, Mid-Hudson , Capital/Central, Rochester and Western New York.

2. DELEGATE-AT-LARGE - Five (5) to be elected from throughout the state without geographic restriction.

3. LANGUAGE/ETHNIC DELEGATES - One (1) representative to be elected for each of a maximum of ten (10) different language/ethnic groups without geographic restriction.

4. PARENT-AT-LARGE - One (1) to be elected from throughout the state without geographic restriction.

B. REGIONS - The six (6) geographic areas listed below will be the regions from which Regional Delegates will be elected.

Region 1 - Long Island

Region 2 - New York City

Region 3 - Mid-Hudson

Region 4 - Capital/Central District

Region 5 - Rochester

Region 6 - Western New York

C. Election of Delegates

A slate of candidates will be developed by the Nominations and Elections Committee, which shall be a Standing Committee. (See Section IV.)

The number of candidates for each delegate category shall be as follows:

a. Regional Delegates: No more than four (4) nominations for each region; except New York City which may have a maximum of 8 nominations.

b. Delegates-at-Large : No more than eight (8) nominations per slate statewide;

c. Language/Ethnic Delegates : No more than two (2) nominations/each language group;

d. Parent-At-Large: No more than six (6) nominations per slate (one nomination per region).

3. The Regional Delegates will be responsible for calling a regional meeting of paid members for the purpose of nominating regional delegates, delegates-at-large, language/ethnic delegates and parent-at-large delegate according to schedule of elections. The names of the candidates will be submitted to the Nominations and Elections Committee by the regional delegates by May 1.

4. The Nominations and Elections Committee will be selected by April 1 and the elections are to be completed by June 30.

5. Voting for the election of all delegates in the Delegate Assembly will be conducted by mail.

6. Winning candidates will be those receiving a majority of the votes cast within each category.

D. Terms of the Office of Delegates

1. All delegates shall serve for a term of two (2) years.

2. Terms will begin on even years for Delegates-at-Large and Parent-At-Large; and in odd years for Regional Delegates and Language/Ethnic Delegates.

3. Vacancies created in the Delegate Assembly by reason of resignation or other reason shall be filled for the remainder of the term of office by appoint-ments made by the Executive Board.

E. Duties of Delegate Assembly

1. All members of the Delegate Assembly must be members in good standing of the association for at least one (1) year.

2. Individual delegates may serve as a committee chairperson upon appointment by the Executive Board.

3. The Delegate Assembly shall meet at least four times per year.

4. Except for the first meeting of the year, all other meetings shall be called by the Executive Board. The first meeting of the Delegate Assembly shall be called to order by the Outgoing President and it shall take place in September.

5. Under the direction of the Executive Board, the Delegate Assembly shall support and conduct all activities necessary to accomplish the purpose of the association.

Responsibility of the Delegate Assembly

a. Regional Delegates, in consultation with its regional members, will draft a proposal of annual activities together with a proposed budget to be submitted to the Executive Board for approval.

b. Regional Delegates shall hold regional meetings at least once a year in their elected region.

c. Delegates-At-Large will participate actively in carrying out the goals of NYSABE through their work on committees.

d. Each designated language/ethnic group will be represented by a Language Delegate elected for a two (2) year term who will coordinate the activities within the language group.

e. The Parent-At-Large Delegate should serve as a liaison between the association and the parents of children from diverse ethnolinguistic backgrounds, who are in bilingual education and those who are committed to the goals, purposes and objectives of NYSABE. The Parent-At-Large Delegate will work closely with all Delegates in order to coordinate meaningful activites for parents. The Parent-At-Large Delegate will chair the committee that plans the Parents' Institute held at the Annual Conference.

F. The Delegate Assembly along with the Executive Board will determine amount of annual membership dues.

Section III. EXECUTIVE BOARD

A. Officers

The Executive Board of this Association shall be composed of the officers of the Association. The officers shall be the President, First Vice-President, Second Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, Immediate Past-President,

B. Election of Officers

The Officers shall be elected by a majority of the votes cast by the Delegates in a meeting of the Delegate Assembly at which a quorum is present.

C. Presidential Succession

The First Vice-President will automatically become President in the year immediately following the completion of the term as First Vice-President.

D. Term of Office

Officers of the Association shall be elected for a term of one year. The President of the association shall serve an additional year on the Executive Board as Past President will full voice and Vote.

Duties of Officers

1. The President shall:

a. Preside at all general membership meetings, Delegate Assembly meetings and Executive Board meetings;

b. Vote on any question in the event of a tie;

c. Be empowered to appoint any member of the association to act as a representative of the Association;

d. Be ex-officio member of all committees;

e. Perform all duties necessary to conduct the business of the Association as efficiently as possible.

2. The First Vice-President shall:

a. Assist the President in the administration of the association business;

b. Assume temporarily the office and responsibilities of the President in the event of the absence or disability of the President;

c. Automatically become the President in the year immediately following completion of the term of office as First Vice-President

3. The Second Vice President shall:

a. Oversee the operation of the annual conference and serve as liaison between the Executive Board and the conference chairperson;

b. In conjunction with the Association Treasurer and Conference Chairperson will prepare a projected Annual Conference Budget to be presented at an October Executive Board Meeting;

c. Be a member or coordinator of such committees, projects and assignments as the President may designate;

d. Be next in line of succession to the Presidency after the First Vice-President, in the event of the absence or disability of both the President and First Vice-President.

4. The Secretary shall:

a. Keep an accurate account of all meetings of the Executive Board, Delegate Assembly, and general membership;

b. Maintain an accurate list of the names and addresses of persons and organizations to be notified of meetings.

5. The Treasurer shall:

a. Be the custodian of the Association's funds and shall receive and disburse them upon authority from the Executive Board, including verification of members in good standing as provided by the Membership Committee; and

b. Present monthly financial reports to the Executive Board and prepare an annual written report, including a report of the membership status of each delegate at the first annual meeting.

Section IV. COMMITTEES

A. Standing Committees

1. Membership - The Membership Committee shall undertake all those activities necessary to increase the number of active members in the Association and to determine the eligibility status of all members. It shall design recruitment materials, initiate campaigns to increase membership enrollment, and coordinate efforts to better serve existing members.

2. Educational Policy - The Educational Policy Committee shall take responsibility for being aware of and informing the membership, with the approval of the Executive Board, of all matters of public policy of interest to the organization. It shall serve as a liaison to the NABE Committee on Educational Policy.

3. Conference Planning - This committee shall be responsible for planning and organizing the Association's Annual Conference under the direction of the Executive Board. The Conference chairperson shall be appointed by the Executive Board and will report to the second vice president. The conference chairperson will be a member in good standing.

4. Publication - This committee shall carry out those activities necessary to disseminate, through a variety of formats, information of significance to the members of the Association and to other interested and appropriate parties. The chairperson of the Committee will present to the Executive Board on a yearly basis a proposal for publications to be sponsored by NYSABE. This committee will include the Journal Editor and Newsletter Editor and Editor of other publications.

5. Professional Development - This committee shall undertake those activities necessary to assist the Association in promoting the professional growth and advancement of its members. The chairperson of this committee will present to the Executive Board on a yearly basis a proposal for professional development activities to be sponsored by NYSABE.

6. Nomination & Elections Committee

This committee shall carry out all these activities necessary for the election of Delegates. The Nomination and Election Committee shall:

a. Collect nominations;

b. Prepare election ballot;

c. Present election ballot to the Executive Board for approval;

d. Send out ballots to the general membership;

e. Make arrangements for counting of ballots; and

f. Report the election results to the Executive Board.

9. The Executive Board shall select the Chairperson of this committee, who in turn shall select with approval of the Executive Board (6) six additional members. No member of this committee may be a member of the Executive Board or the Delegate Assembly.

B. Ad-Hoc Committees

The Executive Board shall determine the need for Ad-Hoc Committees and shall appoint same.

C. Committee Chairpersons

The Executive Board shall appoint chairpersons of Standing Committees and Ad-Hoc Committees from members of the Delegate Assembly, not excluding the officers and active members of the Association from being selected.