Operating Guidelines For

OPERATING GUIDELINES FOR

THE NORTH DAKOTA EDUCATION COALITION

Name

The name of this organization shall be the North Dakota Education Coalition.

Membership

Permanent members of the Coalition shall be the North Dakota Education Association (NDEA), the North Dakota Council of Education Leaders (NDCEL), and the North Dakota School Boards Association (NDSBA). Other permanent members of the Coalition may be added with unanimous consent of the three Associations named above. Temporary partners may be added to the Coalition from time-to-time for purposes of addressing an issue common to all partners, with the unanimous consent of the three permanent members of the Coalition. Temporary partners may come in and out of the Coalition as deemed appropriate by the three permanent members of the Coalition. Temporary partners may change depending upon the issue at hand.

Purpose of the Coalition

It shall be the purpose of the Coalition to support issues important to public education both in the legislative arena and in the public school arena. Joint projects may be any venture deemed by the Coalition to be important to the preservation and enhancement of the effectiveness of public education in the state of North Dakota or the United States of America.

Meetings

Meetings of the Coalition partners may be called at the request of any of the three permanent members of the Coalition. With the concurrence of the other two partners a mutually agreed upon time and location will be chosen.

Decision-Making Process

Generally participants will be the full-time permanent elected officers and executive directors, or other staff, as determined by the member Associations. Other non full-time elected officers may choose to participate from time-to-time as schedules allow and needs of the organizations may require. Decisions will be made by consensus with adequate opportunity for all participants to voice their viewpoints. Every effort will be made to reach consensus. If no consensus can be reached, the Coalition will not take any official position on the issue under discussion.

It is understood by all partners in the Coalition that individual Associations will have positions from time-to-time on which consensus of the Coalition cannot be reached. The Coalition understands that each Association must take positions as directed by its members and its governing bodies, and the Coalition will respect and uphold the right of individual Associations to do so. Coalition partners will make every effort to avoid surprising other partners with positions they will take on issues.

Adopted: January 27, 2004