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News for Paraprofessionals

Money, power and ‘RESPECT’

More than 1,600 paraprofessionals and fellow UFT members came together from across the city on April 2 to call on the New York City Council to pass legislation to give paraprofessionals an annual “RESPECT check” of $10,000.

Taking stock in students’ skills

Steven Leaderman, a teacher at P370, a District 75 program in Coney Island, has created an innovative vocational program that has his students sort and deliver school supplies. The program helps the students develop key vocational and life skills that will serve them after graduation. 


Showing their colors

Thousands of UFT members wore blue to work in solidarity with their paraprofessional colleagues on April 2, which was national Paraprofessionals Appreciation Day and the union’s citywide Day of Action.

Paraprofessionals Awards Luncheon

Nearly 1,100 paraprofessionals and other members gathered at the New York Hilton Midtown on March 22 to celebrate the outstanding work of their colleagues, attend professional learning sessions and have fun at a carnival. City Council Education Committee Chair Rita Joseph, a key supporter of the RESPECT check legislation, was the keynote speaker.

When paraprofessionals choose

Paraprofessionals across the city have embraced the opportunity to participate at long last in Teacher’s Choice.
After years of advocacy by the union, paraprofessionals were included in the program beginning in the 2023-24 school year. Learn how these seven paraprofessionals used their Teacher's Choice allotment this school year.


UFT’s large and diverse ‘family’

Union leaders and representatives from the union’s private, nonprofit and Department of Education functional chapters gathered at union headquarters on Jan. 16 to kick off a new union initiative intended to showcase and amplify the work of members in the diverse titles and collective bargaining units in the UFT.