The NJEA Delegate Assembly (DA), the association’s policy-making body, voted at its Nov. 7, 2020, and Jan. 9, 2021, meetings to accept recommendations made by the NJEA Constitution Review Committee to place several constitutional amendments on the spring 2021 election ballot.
The constitutional questions cover the following issues:
• Clarifying the limited rights in two special membership categories—general professional members and subscribing members—and aligning the language in both of those categories.
• Enhancing the formula used to determine the minimum representation goal of ethnic-minority members on the DA by adjusting how many statewide at-large ethnic-minority DA members and alternates would need to be elected by the DA to achieve that goal if the numbers of ethnic-minority DA members regularly elected fell short.
• Approving proposed editorial changes designed to clarify, update, and improve the NJEA Constitution to enhance readability, consistency, and style throughout the association’s main governing document. These proposed editorial changes resulted from an in-depth review of the Constitution conducted by the Constitution Review Committee, the first such study completed in decades.
The proposed constitutional amendments and more detailed information on these questions are spelled out in this edition of the Review, beginning on Page 52.