UFT President Michael Mulgrew, UFT Officers, educators, and elected officials at a press conference Friday called on City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams to schedule a public hearing on the proposed "Paraprofessional Respect" bill.

The bill would provide an annual $10,000 payment to New York City public school paraprofessionals outside of traditional collective bargaining.  

The proposed legislation has 47 City Council sponsors, as well as public support from the New York City Public Advocate and Borough Presidents Vanessa Gibson in the Bronx, Mark Levine in Manhattan, and Donovan Richards in Queens. 

See photos and video from the press conference »

Despite City Council rules requiring a hearing to be scheduled with such overwhelming support, no action has been taken.

"We do not want to be here. We thought we would never have to be here today. What is going on with the City Council is obscene as far as I am concerned, with their staff," Michael Mulgrew said during Friday's press conference on the steps of City Hall. "We have a crisis in our school system. We cannot fill the position of the paraprofessional. It is time the city recognizes that it is their responsibility to fix this crisis," Mulgrew said.

"We are heading into a September start for the school year with at least 4,000 vacancies. Potentially more. The impact is devastating. We have a very short window of time to solve this," said Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine.

"We are here to make sure the paraprofessionals get the pay, the respect, and the treatment they deserve. And we will be out here until they do," said City Council Member Keith Powers.

"It is not OK for the ... Speaker to take it upon herself and not bring this legislation 1261 to committee. We need to hear something. Our paraprofessionals are waiting," said Priscilla Castro, the head of the UFT's paraprofessional chapter. "We will not stop. And all 28,000 paras will advocate. Because guess what, without the 28,000 paras, the school system will be broken."

"The $10,000 respect check isn't a luxury - it is a necessity. It is a lifeline. It is a long overdue recognition of the expertise, the passion, and the sacrifices paraprofessionals bring every day," said TreVaughn Taylor, a Brooklyn paraprofessional.
Mulgrew thanked City Council Member Julie Menin, City Council Member Erik Bottcher, Council Member Susan Zhuang, Brooklyn Borough President candidate Khari Edwards and City Council candidate Elizabeth Lewinsohn in Manhattan's District 1 for their staunch support of the paraprofessional respect bill.

The city's reliance on pattern bargaining has not served paraprofessionals, who work with the city's most vulnerable students.
UFT paraprofessionals working for the city Department of Education (DOE) earn from $31,787 to $52,847. A 3% increase for a first-year paraprofessional is roughly $900; a 3% increase for the highest-paid DOE school-based administrator, a principal, is roughly $6,500.