Duval Teachers United

DUVAL TEACHERS UNITED

A union of educators, teachers, paraprofessionals and office personnel

TIGER/COPE TEACHERS IN GOVERNMENT EDUCATION REFORM

Bylaws

  1. Name:  This organization shall be known as Duval Teachers United—Teachers -In Government Education Reform and shall be a State political arm of FEA, a nonprofit, unincorporated organization.  TIGER shall be affiliated with Florida State COPE (Committee on Political Education) of the AFL-CIO.  TIGER/COPE shall not be affiliated with any political party.
  2. Purpose:
    A. To support and strengthen the commitment of the citizens and the government to excellence in public education at all levels.
    B. To promote and strive for the improvement of the public schools by encouraging and stimulating educators to take a more active part in governmental affairs pertaining to education.
    C. To encourage educators to know and understand the nature and actions of education.
    D. To assist educators in organizing themselves for more effective political action, and in carrying out their civic responsibilities.
    E. To engage in any suitable activities to achieve the purposes stated above.

3. Membership:

Membership shall be comprised of all members of Duval Teachers United as defined in ARTICLE IV OF THE Constitution of Duval Teachers United.

4. Dues:

Contributions to DTU TIGER/COPE shall be twenty dollars ($20.00) annually for teachers and ten dollars ($10.00) annually for Paraprofessionals and UOPDs.

5. Officers:

A. The Chairperson of DTU TIGER/COPE shall be the President of Duval Teachers United.

B. The Vice-Chairperson of DTU TIGER/COPE shall be the Executive Vice President of Duval Teachers United.

C. The Director of DTU TIGER/COPE shall be appointed by the Chairperson with the approval of the Executive Committee.

D. The Treasurer of DTU TIGER/COPE shall be the Director of DTU TIGER/COPE.

E. The Executive Committee of DTU TIGER/Cope shall be the Board of Directors of the Duval Teachers United.

F. The policy making body of DTU TIGER/COPE shall be the TIGER/COPE Council and shall be comprised of the same members as the Representative Assembly of Duval Teachers United.

6. Finances/Expenditures:

A. All expenditures shall be with the approval of the Executive Committee of DTU TIGER/COPE.

B. No contributions shall be made to a candidate for office unless such candidate is endorsed by the procedures in ARTICLE IV of the Constitution.

C. All checks issued by the DTU TIGER/COPE shall have dual signatures of the Chairperson of DTU TIGER/COPE and the Director of DTU TIGER/COPE.

7. Endorsements:

A. Endorsements by DTU TIGER/COPE shall be made by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the Duval Teachers United TIGER/COPE Council.

B. The Executive Committee shall be authorized to make endorsements for run-off elections or in general elections if the Council does not meet in time to make such endorsements. It shall be made by two-thirds (2/3) vote of the Executive Committee.

C. Prior to endorsement by the Council, the Executive Committee shall establish a TIGER/COPE sub-committee for the purpose of recommending endorsements of candidates.

D. All checks issued by the DTU TIGER/COPE shall have dual signatures of the Chairperson of DTU TIGER/COPE and the Director of DTU TIGER/COPE.

8. Amendments:  These Bylaws may be amended by a majority vote of the TIGER/COPE Council.

9. Parliamentary Authority: Except as otherwise provided in the Bylaws, all meetings shall be governed by Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised.

10. Dissolution: In the event of the dissolution of TIGER-S, all residual funds will be returned pro-rata to contributors or donated to a charitable organization which is tax exempt pursuant to Section 501©(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

11. Ratification:  Ratification of TIGER-S Bylaws shall be by a majority vote of the FEA/ United Executive Council and shall become effective upon ratification.