Full Menu Close Menu
Para Respect campaign banner

Let's fight for the respect we deserve

Over the decades, the pay gap between the highest-paid school-based titles and the lowest-paid UFT members — our paraprofessionals — has grown appallingly wide. Our RESPECT check would give every UFT-represented paraprofessional a recurring annual payment of $10,000.

UPDATE: Thanks to the support of City Council Speaker Julie Menin, the RESPECT check bill was introduced on Feb. 24 by City Council members Carmen De La Rosa, Lynn Schulman, Rita Joseph and Virginia Maloney. More importantly, the bill, now called Intro 0692, has an improvement: new language in it that creates a path for the city to eventually make this money a permanent part of our contract. Read the full legislation »

Since then: 
  • A supermajority of City Council members have signed on to the bill (see below), making it veto-proof. If the mayor did veto the bill, the council could overturn it. 
  • Council Speaker Julie Menin pledged her support for the bill’s passage at our annual Paraprofessional Awards Luncheon on March 7. 
  • The bill had a hearing on March 9 with the City Council Committee on Civil Service and Labor. 
Next Steps:
  • The City Council Committee on Civil Service and Labor must vote the bill out of committee. Then, we need to get the legislation passed by the full City Council. Our new speaker, Julie Menin, supports this bill, which will make getting it passed much easier than last time.

These milestones are due to all the work that members have put into this campaign, especially our paraprofessionals, who have been meeting with City Council members since the members were sworn in this January. Now we are on the way to finally taking this over the finish line and giving every paraprofessional a recurring annual payment of $10,000. 

We will not stop until our RESPECT check legislation is passed.

Council members who have sponsored the RESPECT check bill:
  1. Shaun Abreu
  2. Shirley Aldebol
  3. Joann Ariola
  4. Alexa Avilés
  5. Chris Banks
  6. Gale Brewer
  7. Selvena Brooks-Powers
  8. Tiffany Cabán
  9. Carmen De La Rosa
  10. Eric Dinowitz
  11. Elsie Encarnación
  12. Harvey Epstein
  13. Oswald Feliz
  14. James Gennaro
  15. Jennifer Gutiérrez
  16. Shahana Hanif
  17. Ty Hankerson
  18. Kamillah Hanks
  19. Shanel Thomas-Henry
  20. Crystal Hudson
  21. Rita Joseph
  22. Shekar Krishnan
  23. Linda Lee
  24. Farah Louis
  25. Virginia Maloney
  26. Christopher Marte
  27. Frank Morano
  28. Mercedes Narcisse
  29. Sandy Nurse
  30. Chi Ossé
  31. Vickie Paladino
  32. Lincoln Restler
  33. Kevin Riley
  34. Yusef Salaam
  35. Justin Sanchez
  36. Pierina Sanchez
  37. Kayla Santosuosso
  38. Lynn Schulman
  39. Althea Stevens
  40. Sandra Ung
  41. Inna Vernikov
  42. Jumaane Williams
  43. Julie Won
  44. Phil Wong
  45. Susan Zhuang

*We will continue to list additional members as more sponsors sign on.

New York City Council

Contact your City Council member

If you have a new City Council member leading your district, whether it’s where you work or live, please reach out to them and make sure they know how important this bill is to you.

The proposed legislation before the City Council, if passed, would begin to undo some of the damage that the unfair practice of pattern bargaining has caused members of the Paraprofessionals Chapter. Substitute paraprofessionals would receive a prorated amount based on the number of days they work.

The pay disparity needs to be addressed now, and over 100,000 New Yorkers agree. It’s a matter of equity, fairness and RESPECT.

Our special education survey in the fall spotlighted the serious shortage of paraprofessionals in New York City public schools. Without offering more money, the DOE cannot hope to retain and recruit enough paraprofessionals.

Please join us in the fight ahead to pass this legislation. Together, we can win.