Constitution of

The Anchorage Council of Education/AFT

ACE
As ratified September 17 2001

Article I

Name

The name of this organization shall be the Anchorage Council of Education,

American Federation of Teachers, Local No. 4255, APEA /AFT, AFL-CIO. Any conflict with this document or the by Laws of the Anchorage Council of Education shall be resolved in favor of the Constitution or By Laws of the Alaska Public Employees Association/AFT

 

Article II

Objectives

 

The objectives of the Anchorage Council of Education shall be to:

 

FIRST:

Represent A.C.E. members and bargain collectively for job security, salary, benefits, and working conditions.

SECOND:

Improve standards for teachers, educational workers, and other workers, by promoting better preparation, encouraging relevant in-service training, and securing the working conditions essential to the best performance of professional service.

THIRD:

Promote such a democratization of the schools as will enable them better to equip their pupils to take their places in the industrial, social, and political life of the community.

FOURTH:

Aid members of ACE in securing favorable local, state, and national legislation and whenever practicable support such legislation which will improve the quality of education and operations of the Anchorage School District.

FIFTH:

Further the aims and promote cooperation with the American Federation of Teachers, APEA/AFT, and AFL- CIO.

SIXTH:

Fight all forms of bias due to race, creed, sex, social, political or economic status, or national origin.

Article III

Membership

Section 1:

Membership Eligibility:

Membership to ACE shall be open to all Anchorage School District non-certificated employees and certificated employees below the level of Director.

Section 2:

Membership Requirement:

Membership in the Local shall be voluntary unless otherwise specified by negotiated contractual agreement(s).

Section 3:

Classes of Membership:

There shall be two classes of members: Members in Good Standing and Agency Fee Payer

(a)

A Member in Good Standing is a member who signed affiliation cards with ACE/AFT and is current on all monthly dues and other local assessments.

(b)

An Agency Fee Payer is an employee who chooses not to be a member of ACE/AFT, who does not object to the use of his or her service fees for purposes related to the collective bargaining contract administration and grievance administration. An Agency Fee Payer is not entitled to the rights and responsibilities as Member in Good Standing, including the right to vote on contracts and on ACE issues.

Section 4:

Non-discrimination:

No discrimination shall ever be shown toward individual members or applicants for membership.

 

Article IV

       Officers

Section 1:

The elected officers of ACE shall be a President, a First Vice President, a Second Vice President, a Secretary and a Treasurer.

Section 2:

Eligibility:

To be eligible for nomination to any office, a candidate must be a member in good standing of ACE.

Section 3:

President:

The President shall be responsible for all administrative duties of ACE and see that all directives and recommendations of the Executive Board are carried into effect. The President shall serve as chairperson of the Executive Board and as an ex-officio member of all committees except the Nominating Committee.

Section 4:

First Vice President:

The First Vice President shall be responsible for Grievance and Negotiations Committees. The First Vice President shall assume the office of President, in the event of a vacancy, for the remainder of the term.

Section 5:

Second Vice President:

The Second Vice President shall be responsible for Political, Legislative and Nominations Committees.

Section 6:

Secretary:
The secretary shall be the custodian of the official seal and charter of the local, and shall give notice of meetings and record all minutes of Executive Board and general membership meetings. The Secretary shall be responsible for Communications and Membership Committees.

Section 7:

Treasurer:

The Treasurer shall be responsible for the financial affairs of ACE. and shall forward all per capita dues and current memberships to the Alaska Public Employees Association/AFT to keep ACE in good standing at all times.

 

Article V

Standing Committees

Section 1:

Standing Committees:

There shall be the following standing committees. Committee membership may be expanded as the need arises with approval of the Executive Board. Standing committees serve at the pleasure of the President and Executive Board. Such committees are:

(a) Nominating:

The Nominating Committee shall consist of the Second Vice President and at least two other members in good standing approved by the Executive Board. The chairperson shall be the Second Vice President. The Committee shall encourage qualified members for elective office.

(b) Communications:

The Communications Committee shall prepare and/or assist in the preparation of ACE communications.

 

 

Article VI
Elections
 

 

Section 1:

Notice shall be provided to each member, at least 15 days prior to the annual April general membership meeting, that nominations for officers are open and will be taken until the close of the April meeting.

Section 2:

Ballots shall be prepared each member in good standing and mailed to the most recent address provided to ACE, within 15 days following the nomination meeting. The ballots shall be returned to the address provided no later than 15 days from the date originally sent to the members.

The candidate receiving a plurality of the votes cast shall be declared elected.

Officers shall be installed at the general membership meeting in May.

Section 5:

Vacancies, with the exception of President, shall be filled by the Executive Board until an election is held as described above.

 Article VII

Executive Board

Section 1:

How Constituted: The Executive Board shall be the administration body of the Anchorage Council of Education, and shall consist of the President, the First Vice President, the Second Vice-president, Secretary, and Treasurer. The outgoing president may serve as an ex-official nonvoting member of the Executive Board.

Section 2:

The president shall serve as chairperson of the Executive Board and has the right to vote on all issues.

Section 3:

The Executive Board shall have the authority to assign additional duties and areas of responsibility for officers and members, that are not inconsistent with this Constitution or the By Law.

Section 4:

The Executive Board shall have the power to interpret and enforce this Constitution.

Section 5:

The Executive Board shall appoint such committees as it deems necessary, not inconsistent with this Constitution.

Section 6:

The Executive Board shall meet at least quarterly, to address ACE affairs and issues.

Section 7:

The Executive Board shall have the power to carry on all the business/financial affairs of ACE, to the extent allowed by the Constitution, ACE By Laws, applicable affiliation agreements, laws and statutes.

Article VIII

Meetings

General Membership meetings of ACE shall be held not less than three times a year. One such meeting shall be held in April of each year. General membership meetings may be canceled and rescheduled by the Executive Board.

Special Meetings of the ACE membership may be called at any time by the Executive Board. At least twenty-four hours notice shall be given to the membership for any special meeting. Upon petition of 10 percent of the active members, the Executive Board shall call a special meeting.

Section 1:

Local Dues: Local dues shall be established by a majority vote by the members present at any general membership meeting, provided that notice of a contemplated dues increase has been sent 15 days prior to the meeting.

Pass-through provision - ACE shall increase the dues to equal any increase in per capita payments that are required to be made to our affiliates.

Section 3:

The Fiscal Year shall be from July 1 each year through June 30 of the succeeding year.

Article X

Rules of Order

The rules contained in Robert's Rules of Order - Revised shall govern ACE in all cases to which they are applicable in which they are not inconsistent with rules regularly adopted by ACE.

 

Article Xl

Representation

Section 1:

The President of ACE, by virtue of the office, shall be a delegate to the American Federation of Teachers Convention. The 1 st Vice President, shall be an alternate or additional delegate to the AFT convention by Executive Board authority. The 2nd Vice President shall be an alternate or additional delegate to the AFT convention by Executive Board authority.

Section 2:

The president of ACE, by virtue of the office, shall be delegate to the Alaska Public Employees Association/AFT biennial caucus. The 1st Vice President, shall be an alternate or additional delegate to the AFT convention by Executive Board authority. The 2nd Vice President shall be an alternate or additional delegate to the AFT convention by Executive Board authority.

Article Xll

Affiliation

Section 1:

ACE shall maintain affiliation with the American Federation of Teachers, and delegate representation shall be no less than the formula prescribed by the national organization.

Section 2:

ACE shall maintain affiliation with the Alaska Public Employees Association/AFT and delegate representation shall be no less than the formula prescribed by the state organization.

Section 3:

ACE shall maintain affiliation with Alaska Federation of Labor and with the Anchorage Central Labor Council.

 

Article Xlll

Amendments

Section 1:

Amendment Proposal - Amendments to this Constitution may be proposed in any one of the following ways:

(A) Upon petition of 20 percent of membership

(B) By majority vote of the Executive Board; or

(C) By a majority vote at any regular meeting

Section 2:

Procedure - This Constitution may be amended by a two-thrids vote, of those present at a meeting established for that purpose, provided copies of the amendment have been mailed to all members of ACE at least 30 days prior to the meeting.