Election Policy on Involvement of People of Color

In 1996, the 17 distinguished members of the NCTE Task Force on Involving People of Color in the Council recommended that  “only persons of color” be nominated “for Vice President on a regularly scheduled basis.”   Whereas we as an organization are not legally able to institute this 1996 recommendation as written policy, the NCTE Executive Committee strongly recommends that this charge be instituted as customary and routine practice and that in so doing we thus operationalize the Council’s commitment to diversity.   

In light of the fact that the NCTE Nominating Committee nominates a vice presidential slate every four years from the Elementary, Middle Level, Secondary, and College Sections, respectively, we recommend that the Council ensure the regular election of persons of color to the NCTE Vice Presidency by advising the NCTE Nominating Committee to run at least four slates of all persons of color in each twelve-year cycle.  

Specifically, we advise that the NCTE Nominating Committee run a slate of all persons of color at least once in every three times a vice president is nominated from the Elementary Section, at least once in every three times the vice president is nominated from the Middle Level Section, at least once in every three times the vice president is nominated from the Secondary Section, and at least once in every three times the vice president is nominated from the College Section.  

We recommend that this practice commence with the NCTE 2002-03 Nominating Committee.   The Executive Committee wishes to note that this recommended practice should not preclude regular inclusion of people of color on all slates for all years.

This policy was approved by the NCTE Executive Committee in September 2001 (motion 2001:124).