The following email was sent to all paraprofessionals from UFT President Michael Mulgrew and Priscilla Castro, Paraprofessionals Chapter Chair, on Jan. 12, 2026: 

It’s a new year, but the fight for our paraprofessional RESPECT check continues. The good news: Our new City Council speaker, Julie Menin, as well as our new mayor, Zohran Mamdani, are both supporters of the RESPECT check for our paraprofessionals.

Here’s what’s currently happening

On Jan. 8, as soon as the new City Council was sworn in, our UFT political action coordinators (PACs) and our paraprofessional coordinators began meetings with the council members to educate them on the importance of the paraprofessional RESPECT check and confirm their continued support. We are setting up more meetings with paraprofessionals from our schools to make sure their voices continue to make an impact.

What’s next?

Although former City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams blocked this bill last year, the language of the bill is ready to be assigned to a new sponsor. In the coming weeks, we will work with the City Council to make that happen.

Once the bill has been sponsored, the UFT will lobby to get co-sponsers to sign on, just like we did before. Last time, dozens of council members signed on immediately, and we reached a supermajority within a week.

Our conversations are confirming that the overwhelming support for this RESPECT check is still there and stronger than ever. The difference? We now have a speaker who does not want to block it. The path forward is clear, and your work matters.

Stay tuned for more communication as this unfolds. We’ve said it before, and we will say it again: We will not stop until our RESPECT check legislation is passed.

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.

Here is a list of the new council members who came on in 2026:

District 2, Harvey Epstein
District 4, Virginia Maloney
District 8, Elsie Encarnación
District 13, Shirley Aldebol
District 17, Justin Sanchez
District 21, Shanel Thomas-Henry
District 28, Tyrell Hankerson
District 30, Phil Wong
District 47, Kayla Santosuosso

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