Paraprofessionals win fight for missing pay
After five weeks without compensation, 132 paraprofessionals who worked at an extended school year program in Cambria Heights, Queens, this summer were finally made whole thanks to the UFT’s intervention.
The program, which exclusively serves special education students, began at the start of July. The paraprofessionals were scheduled to receive their first per-session checks on July 23. However, on July 22 at 10:40 p.m., the educators received an email from the principal telling them they would not be paid. The principal had missed the July 19 deadline to submit payroll to the city Department of Education.
“It was so chaotic,” said Aretha Rushing, a paraprofessional who worked at the program sited at PS 176.
Rushing and her colleagues said conversations with the principal surrounding their pay were challenging. Weeks before the missed paychecks, paraprofessionals experienced their timecards being lost, hours not being logged despite time worked and the principal’s refusal to accept timesheets. When paraprofessionals complained, the principal berated them, Rushing said.
“We thought, ‘This is not right,’ so we got the UFT on board,” said Rushing.
The members contacted UFT Paraprofessionals Chapter representatives John Kamps, the chapter’s 1st vice chairperson, and Penny Setoute, the Queens borough liaison for the chapter. The representatives advised the paraprofessionals to submit online salary inquiry forms to the UFT. This involved gathering documentation of their interactions with the principal, the time they actually worked and what was displayed in their DOE payroll portal accounts.
The situation was demoralizing, but paraprofessionals said their relationships with one another emboldened them to respond as a group.
“Many of us had worked together at this school for the last three summers,” explained Gordon Duncan, another paraprofessional in the program. “We have strong relationships, and we educate one another about our rights.”
The UFT members said that while getting paid on time and in full was extremely important, they were equally concerned that they were not being treated with respect and dignity.
“I love being there for students with disabilities, and I take my job very seriously,” said Rushing. “But the way this principal treated us — very hostile, speaking down to us — made us feel like dirt.”
Paraprofessionals Chapter Chairperson Priscilla Castro said she was proud the paraprofessionals “stood strong and demanded respect. When we work together, great things can happen.”
Duncan has a “firm belief in ‘para power,’” noting that the time paraprofessionals spend with their students is invaluable. “If 132 paraprofessionals had walked out of that building and you only had 60 teachers left, what would have happened?” he asked.
In a show of appreciation for the paraprofessionals’ resilience, UFT chapter representatives treated them to lunch at the school on Aug. 11. It was a “small token of appreciation for the paraprofessionals being there for the students” despite the principal’s unprofessionalism, said Kamps.
“We had a beautiful day,” Rushing said of the UFT luncheon. “The principal made us feel like we weren’t needed. But the presence of the UFT made us feel like we are. We matter. We’re important.”