National Association for BilingualEducation
Indigenous Bilingual Education
Special Interest Group
IBE Institute Programs for both Wednesday, January 18 and Thursday, January 19, 2006.
NABE | WebmasterDr.Roy E. Howard
Discussion: Go to http://www.nicenet.com.Give yourself a user name. You can join the on-line discussiongroups for the following topics by logging in and choosing "Join"under "Classes" from the navigation on the left sideof your screen. Class Name: IBENABE/ Class Key: E7Z576XZZ
Indigenous BilingualEducation Issues of interest in pastyears' discussions: OrganizeAmerican Indian Institutes; LanguageRetention; Loss of Identityin Urban areas; Youth concerns; TeacherPreService; Tribal organizationsand Public Schools; History of Tribes; Title VII- Title I, TitleIX representatives; Urban issues of American Indians in Schools;Presentations for Future NABE, entertainment and ProfessionalPresentations; Future schedulingfor Native concerns, workshopsor issues, including entertainment; Input in NABE scheduling;PAC issues;Talking Circles; MAINTAIN A PRESENCE WITHIN NABE -A NATIVE VOICE
JOB: Executive Director, NABE
April 28, 2006
Greetings NABE Members and Friends!
The NABE Board is pleased to give you an update on our current activities and decisions. The Board has been working diligently and conscientiously, ensuring all aspects of the organization’s activities are moving forward.
Western Region Board Member: Join us in welcoming to the Executive Board, Dr. Barbara Flores, Professor of Language Literacy and Culture/California State University San Bernardino. She is a pioneer researcher, children’s literature writer and international expert in the areas of biliteracy development, teaching/learning, bilingual education and critical pedagogy. Her work has been published in professional journals and books. She is also a sought after keynote speaker throughout the Americas and has lectured throughout the United States, Mexico, Central/South America, the Caribbean, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.
Parent Representative Board Member: As is customary, this board position is selected based upon the conference location. Therefore, we have asked the California Association of Bilingual Education (CABE), to identify and forward names of individuals to the NABE Board for consideration. Once the individual is elected, he/she will be invited to join us to begin working with the local conference committee and get a head start on parent initiatives.
Board Elections: Out of six eligible candidates that submitted their nomination forms for the three open at-large positions, only three chose to remain on the ballot; two incumbents and another candidate. The Board deliberated to ensure that the election process complied with NABE’s by-laws. Additionally, altering the election process after the deadline would have been unfair to the three individuals who followed the proper election procedures and remained as contenders, albeit uncontested, for the positions. Please vote and return your ballot by May 8, 2006. The results will be posted on NABE’s website.
Executive Director Search: The search committee is comprised of three state affiliate presidents representing the Western, Central and Eastern regions, a higher education faculty member, a teacher, a parent representative and two board members. Ads have been placed in major newspapers and additional information and qualifications are posted on NABE’s website. The search committee will begin reviewing applications in June. Interested individuals may obtain application procedures at www.nabe.org.
NABE's 2006 Conference: The annual conference provides the majority of NABE’s revenue to date. We are actively seeking innovative measures to augment this revenue source. However, this year’s conference revenue was below budget while expenses were over-budget. Therefore, NABE’s services will be temporarily reduced and difficult decisions will be made in the months ahead. The Executive Board is aggressively addressing and resolving these financial issues.
NABE’s Finances: To prevent a deficit from occurring, we are restricting spending in all areas to essential activities so we may continue providing the basic services to our members and the students we serve. We face many difficult decisions, yet we feel confident that with the reduction of services in the next 6 to 9 months and with the upcoming conference in 2007, we can begin to slowly resume all of our services. We encourage all our members to participate fully in NABE’s 2007 conference.
NABE Magazine: We are committed to continuing publication of the NABE magazine. However, for the reasons stated above, we are compacting the issues in order to continue providing important news and information to our readers throughout the year.
Bilingual Research Journal (BRJ): We are temporarily discontinuing the production of the BRJ due to financial constraints until after our 2007 conference. We are in the process of printing our last issue that will be ready within the next few months. In 1997, the NABE Board discontinued the BRJ publication due to similar circumstances. We are committed to resuming its publication when it is financially feasible.
State Affiliate Participation: The board is committed in reestablishing communication and active participation of all our state affiliates. We have been actively interacting with the affiliates by involving them with the replacement of the vacated board member positions, the search for the new Executive Director, the annual conference planning committee, and other activities. We thank them for their support and dedication to NABE’s initiatives.
2007 NABE Conference: We are underway for our 2007 Annual Conference in San Jose, CA. The overwhelming response of members and friends that have called to assist us in the organization and to volunteer their time has been very positive and energizing. The Call for Papers has been posted on the NABE website, all the committee chairs have been identified, and our vendor forms will be up soon. Keep a close eye on our webpage for up-to-date conference information. NABE is honored to host, once again, its annual conference in California.
Executive Board Meetings: The past two board meetings have been via teleconference calls to reduce expenses. Our May meeting will be in San Jose, California, the 2007 Annual Conference site. In San Jose, we will meet with the local conference planning committee and conference convention center personnel. We have secured complimentary hotel rooms for all board members for this meeting as part of the convention center contract. Our June meeting will also be via teleconference.
Additional Items: The Board has also been active in the following initiatives:
&Mac183; Reviewing all contracts to ensure they are aligned with NABE’s policy and guidelines, this includes contracts for the 2007 conference;
&Mac183; Reestablishing contact with vendors;
&Mac183; Attempting to sublease unused office space as a source of revenue;
&Mac183; Ensuring that NABE is part of all dialogues regarding NCLB-Title III initiatives and reauthorization by meeting with Kathleen Leos, Assistant Deputy Secretary & Director, Office of English Language Acquisition. Mrs. Leos will be meeting with the Executive Board during the July 2006 board meeting;
&Mac183; Providing support to Dr. Roseann D. Gonzalez, Professor of English, Director, National Center for Interpretation Testing, Research & Policy at University of Arizona;
&Mac183; Securing a donation of $5,000.00 from Linda Cabral, Senior Associate Professional, Human and Civil Rights Department, National Education Association;
&Mac183; Seeking keynote speakers, compiling a list of possible award recipients and recruiting sponsors for our 2007 conference.
Running a national organization takes time, understanding and patience. We apologize to members who have been receiving unsolicited emails and petitions. Unfortunately, we believe that NABE’s mailing list has been compromised. The NABE Executive Board also received an online petition from an anonymous group calling itself the "NABE Membership Collective.” The signers of this petition include less than four percent (4%) of NABE active members - a very small fraction of NABE's several thousand dues-paying members. We respect the right of members and non-members to express their opinions. However, the Board reserves its right not to comment beyond what has been previously stated, in order to protect the legal rights of all parties involved.
The Executive Board is committed to establishing NABE, on an on-going basis, as a viable national and international bilingual organization that is dedicated to the organization’s education professionals and its advocacy and policymaking efforts. It is imperative that NABE emphasizes its foundation - that bilingualism and biculturalism is necessary and essential for all students in our global and multilingual/multicultural society.
We greatly appreciate your patience and support during this transitional time. Thank you.
NABE Executive Board