1st Session

No. 811

AMENDING THE CHARTER OF THE NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES

MAY 18, 1937.-Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed

Mr. PALMISANO, from the Committee on Education, submitted the

following

REPORT

[To accompany S. 709]

The Committee on Education, to whom was referred the bill (S. 709) to amend the act entitled "An act to incorporate the National Education Association of the United States", approved June 30, 1906, as amended, having considered the same, report favorably thereon with the recommendation that the bill do pass.

The National Education Association of the United States was granted a Federal charter under the act entitled "An act to incorporate the National Education Association of the United States", approved June 30, 1906. The association was originally organized at Philadelphia, Pa., under the name of the National Teachers Association, on August 26, 1857.

The purpose of the bill is to amend the charter of the National Education Association of the United States so that the qualifications, classifications, rights, and obligations of members may be prescribed by the bylaws of the corporation rather than by the original charter. Under the present charter if any change is desired relative to the classification, etc., of the members it is necessary that the association secure a congressional enactment of such changes. The bill provides the officers of the corporation and prescribes that changes may be made under the bylaws. The bill specifically provides that except as limited by the original act, as amended, the bylaws shall prescribe the powers, duties, terms of office, manner of election and appointment of officers, councils, and committees, and that the association by its bylaws may prescribe the numbers and names of officers for its councils and committees. Under the present law it is necessary for the association to come to Congress for any of the changes above referred to, but this bill will permit the association under its bylaws to make the necessary amendments.

Under the original charter the principal of the "permanent fund of the National Education Association" could only be expended by a two-thirds vote of the active members of the association. There are nearly 200,000 members of the association scattered over the entire 48 States and it is the view of the association to provide that except by a two-thirds vote of the representative assembly after a proposed expenditure has been approved by the board of trustees and board of directors no part of the principal of such permanent fund shall be expended, with the exception that the income of the permanent fund shall be used to meet the cost of maintaining the organization and publishing its annual volume of proceedings.

The amendments provided in this bill have received the unanimous approval of the members of the national association at a meeting of the representative assembly at Portland, Oreg., June 30, 1936, and received the approval of the executive committee on December 12, 1936.

Hundreds of letters have been received by your committee from the various State organizations endorsing the provisions of this bill and recommending its passage.

CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

In compliance with paragraph 2a of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by the bill are shown as follows: Existing law proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new matter is printed in italics, existing law in which no change is proposed is shown in roman.

SEC. 5. [That the membership of the said corporation shall consist of three classes of members, namely, active, associate, and corresponding, whose qualifications, terms of membership, rights, and obligations shall be prescribed by the bylaws of the corporation.] The qualifications, classifications, rights, and obligations of members of said corporation shall be prescribed in the bylaws of the corporation.

SEC. 6. (a) [That the] The officers of the [said] corporation shall be a president, [twelve] one or more vice presidents, a secretary, a treasurer, a board of directors, an executive committee, [and] a board of trustees, and such boards, councils, committees, and other officers as shall be prescribed in the bylaws.

[The board of directors shall consist of a president, the first vice president, the secretary, the treasurer, the chairman of the board of trustees, and one additional member from each State, Territory, or District, to be elected by the active members for the term of one year, or until their successors are chosen, and of all life directors of the National Educational Association. The United States Commissioner of Education, and all former presidents of the said association now living, and all future presidents of the association hereby incorporated, at the close of their respective terms of office, shall be members of the board of directors for life. The board of directors shall have power to fill all vacancies in their own body; shall have in charge the general interests of the corporation, excepting those herein entrusted to the board of trustees, and shall possess such other powers as shall be conferred upon them by the bylaws of the corporation.]

[The executive committee shall consist of five members, as follows: The president of the association, the first vice-president, the treasurer, the chairman of the board of trustees, and a member of the association, to be chosen annually by the board of directors, to serve one year The said committee shall have authority to represent and to act for the board of directors in the intervals between the meetings of that body, to the extent of carrying out the legislation adopted by the board of directors under general directions as may be given by said board.]

(b) Except as limited by this Act, as amended, the bylaws of the corporation shall prescribe the powers, duties, terms of office, and the manner of election or appointment of the said officers, boards, councils, and committees; and the said corporation may by its bylaws make other and different rovisions as to the numbers and names of the officers, boards, councils, and committees.

SEC. 7. (a) The board of trustees shall consist of four members [,] elected by the board of directors for a term of four years, and the president of the association, who shall be a member ex officio during his term of office. At the first meeting of the board of directors [,] held during the annual meeting of the association at which they were elected, they shall elect one trustee for the term of four years. All vacancies occurring in said board of trustees, whether by resignation or otherwise, shall be filled by the board of directors for the unexpired term; and the absence of a trustee from two successive annual meetings of the board shall forfeit his membership.

[SEC. 7. That the] (b) The invested fund now known as the "Permanent fund of the National Educational Association," when transferred to the corporation hereby created [,] shall be held by such corporation as a permanent fund and shall be in charge of the board of trustees, who shall provide for the safekeeping and investment of such fund, and of all other funds which the corporation may receive by donation, bequest, or devise. No part of the principal of such permanent fund or its accretions shall be expended, except by a two-thirds vote of the [active members of the association, present at any annual meeting] representative assembly, [upon the recommendation of] after the proposed expenditure has been approved by the board of trustees [, after such recommendation has been approved by vote of] and the board of directors, and after printed notice of the proposed expenditure has been [mailed to all active members of the association.] printed in the Journal of the National Education Association at least two months prior to the meeting of the representative assembly.

(c) The income of the permanent fund shall be used only to meet the cost of maintaining the organization of the association and of publishing its annual volume of proceedings, unless the terms of the donation, bequest, or devise shall otherwise specify, [or the board of directors shall otherwise order.] or the bylaws of the corporation shall otherwise provide. [It shall also be the duty of the board of trustees to issue orders on the treasurer for the payment of all bills approved by the board of directors, or by the president and secretary of the association acting under the authority of the board of directors. When practicable, the board of trustees shall invest, as part of the permanent fund, all surplus funds exceeding five hundred dollars that shall remain in the hands of the treasurer after paying the expenses of the association for the previous year, and providing for the fixed expenses and for all appropriations made by the board of directors for the ensuing year.]

(d) The board of trustees shall elect the secretary of the association [,] who shall be secretary of the executive committee, and shall fix the compensation and the term of his office for a period of not to exceed four years.

SEC. 8. That the principal office of the said corporation shall be in the city of Washington, District of Columbia: Provided, That the meetings of the corporation, its officers, committees, and departments, may be held, and that its business may be transacted, and an office or offices may be maintained elsewhere within the United States, as may be determined [by the board of directors, or otherwise, in accordance with the bylaws.