FAQ on the City Council legislation
Our RESPECT check bill is now law! All of our hard work has gotten us to this moment. Paraprofessionals can expect to receive their first RESPECT payment in January.
How did we get here?
As you remember, our legislation was unanimously approved by the City Council on July 16 and sent to Mayor Mamdani for his consideration. He did not sign or veto the bill; because of this, the legislation automatically became law on Aug. 19. Read the full legislation »
Has a lawsuit been filed to challenge the RESPECT check legislation?
Unfortunately, the mayor has filed a lawsuit against the City Council to prevent the RESPECT check bill from being implemented.
The RESPECT check legislation, which was unanimously passed by the City Council on July 16, was drafted carefully to ensure that it does not violate the Taylor Law. The City Council would not have introduced — let alone passed — this bill if it were illegal, and we would not have supported a bill that threatened our collective bargaining rights.
Once again, the city has proven that it cares more about protecting pattern bargaining than protecting the most vulnerable children in our city and the paraprofessionals who keep them safe.
What can be done about the lawsuit and how can I help?
We are prepared to continue fighting for the RESPECT check and the paraprofessionals who keep our schools running. We have not fought this hard for this bill to have the mayor break yet another campaign promise and take this well-deserved money out of the hands of those who need it most. We will not stop until we get this done and get the respect our paraprofessionals deserve.
You can take action by sending our prewritten email (see below) to Mayor Mamdani telling him to respect our paraprofessionals and to stop trying to block this bill.
How to send the email:
- Copy the text below.
- Go to the mayor’s contact form.
- Select the topic: Education.
- Paste the email text in the Message box.
- Enter your contact information.
- Hit Submit.
Email text:
I’m asking you to drop your lawsuit against the RESPECT check law. Paraprofessionals show up each day to care for our children with unwavering dedication, even when this comes at their own expense.
The paraprofessional shortage puts our most vulnerable students at risk and violates their right to an appropriate education. I urge you to keep your campaign promise and respect our paras. Stop this lawsuit and work with us to make a permanent change by fixing the broken pattern-bargaining system.
When will paraprofessionals receive their RESPECT check payments?
Our paraprofessionals will be paid $10,000 next year in four installments of $2,500:
- Jan. 1, 2027, for the payment period from Sept. 1, 2026, through Nov. 14, 2026
- March 1, 2027, for the payment period from Nov. 15, 2026, through Jan. 31, 2027
- June 1, 2027, for the payment period from Feb. 1, 2027, through April 14, 2027
- Aug. 1, 2027, for the payment period from April 15, 2027, through June 30, 2027
Substitute paraprofessionals will receive a prorated amount based on the number of days worked.
Will the RESPECT check become part of a paraprofessional's permanent salary?
The RESPECT check legislation provides paraprofessionals with $10,000 in payments during 2027. Our goal is to build on this victory through contract negotiations and make this money a permanent and pensionable part of paraprofessionals' salaries. We will also continue fighting to fix the broken pattern-bargaining system that has held paraprofessionals back for decades.
Why was this legislation created?
The City of New York has experienced persistent difficulties in recruiting and retaining school paraprofessionals, resulting in staffing shortages and turnover that impair the continuity of educational and student-support services, including critical services for students with disabilities. Maintaining a stable school paraprofessional workforce is necessary to protect student safety and to ensure the effective delivery of instructional and support services in schools. These temporary workforce stabilization payments are necessary to address these emergency conditions until these conditions are rectified through collective bargaining; and this legislation is intended to provide these payments in a manner that does not limit or diminish our collective bargaining rights.
How bad is the pay gap for paraprofessionals?
Our paraprofessionals have a starting salary of just over $32,000, which is impossible to survive on in this city. The city’s insistence on pattern bargaining, in which all city workers get the same percentage increases, has done incredible damage to the lowest-paid employees. The fact is the same 3% increase translates to a much higher dollar amount for higher-paid DOE employees than it does for our paraprofessionals. A 3% increase for a starting paraprofessional is roughly $900, while for the highest paid principals, it is roughly $6,500. Due to decades with this broken system, the pay gap between the highest-paid principals and the lowest-paid UFT members — our paraprofessionals — has grown appallingly wide.
Why is the money not pensionable?
Salaries, which are pensionable, must be negotiated through collective bargaining. With this legislation, we can give paraprofessionals immediate financial relief, rather than waiting until we will begin negotiations on a new contract. Moreover, we are not financing these payments with the finite sum available to us for all members in collective bargaining. Finally, the City Council is legally not allowed to change worker salaries or working conditions, but this payment falls outside the terms and conditions of our contract.
Why did we use legislation instead of the contract?
We will continue to negotiate pay increases for paraprofessionals and all UFT titles through collective bargaining, but our current contract does not expire until 2027. We are going outside the collective bargaining process because pattern bargaining, in which all city workers get the same percentage increases, has failed our paraprofessionals. The fact is the same 3% increase translates to a much higher dollar amount for higher-paid DOE employees than it does for our paraprofessionals, so paraprofessionals fall further and further behind. We would never be able to get this large and immediate amount of money for paraprofessionals within the constraints of collective bargaining without other union members giving up their own raises. It is the city’s responsibility to give paraprofessionals the money we know they all deserve. It’s unacceptable to us for the city to say that other UFT members are responsible for giving paraprofessionals a raise. We will not allow the city to pit members against members.
Would these payments ever stop?
The legislation says that the payments may be reauthorized each year as long as the school system still has a paraprofessional shortage or until the city addresses the harm caused by pattern bargaining.
The goal is to have the city agree to a contract in which paraprofessionals receive a compensation increase that is at least equal to these payments. At that point, the law would cease to exist and the payment amount would be part of our contract.
How will I receive this payment?
We are working with the DOE to figure out how this payment will be distributed. It might appear as supplemental checks similar to our May bonus checks. We will inform you once this process has been settled.
How will this money be taxed?
These payments will be taxed as supplemental wages, the same way the May bonus payments are. Because of this classification, a higher amount of tax may be withheld initially, but your final tax rate at the end of the year would be based on your total income (salary plus bonuses and other earnings). If the amount withheld ended up being more than what you owed for the year, you would receive a tax refund from the IRS when you filed your return.
Why are paraprofessionals receiving this payment and not other UFT titles?
This payment to paraprofessionals addresses the pay gap that has increased over the decades as across-the-board percentage increases negotiated in each contract yield more money for higher-paid titles. Our paraprofessionals deserve to earn a living wage for the valuable work they do.