City Council passes historic paraprofessional "Respect Check" legislation 49-0
The New York City Council unanimously passed the "Respect Check" legislation (Intro 0692-A ) which will provide each NYC public school paraprofessional a $10,000 payment outside of collective bargaining in the coming school year.
"Our paraprofessionals will finally get the respect they deserve," said Michael Mulgrew, president of the United Federation of Teachers. "The City Council understood this is a crisis for our paraprofessionals, who can't stay in a profession that doesn't pay a living wage, and for our students, who are not getting the services they are entitled to because we cannot recruit and retain paraprofessionals."
"We thank Speaker Julie Menin for getting this legislation to the floor and passed, and sponsor Council Member Carmen De La Rosa and former Council Member Keith Powers for their tireless advocacy," Mulgrew said.
VIDEO: Watch UFT Press Conference with Speaker Julie Menin and Council members before the vote.
The City Council decided legislative action was necessary because "New York has experienced persistent difficulties in recruiting and retaining school paraprofessionals due to low rates of pay, resulting in staffing shortages and turnover that impair the continuity of educational and student-support services, including critical services for students with disabilities," the legislation stated.
"The requirement would be repealed upon the execution of a collective bargaining agreement that provides for an increase in the total annual compensation for school paraprofessionals equal to or greater than the amount of the workforce stabilization payments," the bill intro summary states.
The proposed legislation breaks the $10,000 payment into four installments of $2,500 to be paid on Jan. 1, 2027; March 1, 2027; June 1, 2027, and Aug. 1, 2027. The payments would not be pensionable and would be pro-rated for substitute paraprofessionals.
The Council can reauthorize the program annually if the city fails to solve the chronic paraprofessional shortage through collective bargaining.