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Let's fight for the respect we deserve

Over the decades, the pay gap between the highest-paid school-based titles and the lowest-paid UFT members — our paraprofessionals — has grown appallingly wide. Our RESPECT check would give every UFT-represented paraprofessional a recurring annual payment of $10,000.

UPDATE: Thanks to the support of City Council Speaker Julie Menin, the RESPECT check bill was introduced on Feb. 24 by City Council members Carmen De La Rosa, Lynn Schulman, Rita Joseph and Virginia Maloney. More importantly, the bill, now called Intro 0692, has an improvement: new language in it that creates a path for the city to eventually make this money a permanent part of our contract. Read the full legislation »

Since then: 
  • A supermajority of City Council members have signed on to the bill (see below), making it veto-proof. If the mayor did veto the bill, the council could overturn it. 
  • Council Speaker Julie Menin pledged her support for the bill’s passage at our annual Paraprofessional Awards Luncheon on March 7. 
  • The bill had a hearing on March 9 with the City Council Committee on Civil Service and Labor. 
Next Steps:
  • The City Council Committee on Civil Service and Labor must vote the bill out of committee. Then, we need to get the legislation passed by the full City Council. Our new speaker, Julie Menin, supports this bill, which will make getting it passed much easier than last time.

These milestones are due to all the work that members have put into this campaign, especially our paraprofessionals, who have been meeting with City Council members since the members were sworn in this January. Now we are on the way to finally taking this over the finish line and giving every paraprofessional a recurring annual payment of $10,000. 

We will not stop until our RESPECT check legislation is passed.

Council members who have sponsored the RESPECT check bill:
  1. Shaun Abreu
  2. Shirley Aldebol
  3. Joann Ariola
  4. Alexa Avilés
  5. Chris Banks
  6. Gale Brewer
  7. Selvena Brooks-Powers
  8. Tiffany Cabán
  9. Carmen De La Rosa
  10. Eric Dinowitz
  11. Elsie Encarnación
  12. Harvey Epstein
  13. Amanda Farías
  14. Oswald Feliz
  15. James Gennaro
  16. Jennifer Gutiérrez
  17. Shahana Hanif
  18. Ty Hankerson
  19. Kamillah Hanks
  20. Shanel Thomas-Henry
  21. Crystal Hudson
  22. Rita Joseph
  23. Shekar Krishnan
  24. Linda Lee
  25. Farah Louis
  26. Virginia Maloney
  27. Christopher Marte
  28. Frank Morano
  29. Mercedes Narcisse
  30. Sandy Nurse
  31. Chi Ossé
  32. Vickie Paladino
  33. Lincoln Restler
  34. Kevin Riley
  35. Yusef Salaam
  36. Justin Sanchez
  37. Pierina Sanchez
  38. Kayla Santosuosso
  39. Lynn Schulman
  40. Althea Stevens
  41. Sandra Ung
  42. Inna Vernikov
  43. Jumaane Williams
  44. Julie Won
  45. Phil Wong
  46. Susan Zhuang

*We will continue to list additional members as more sponsors sign on.

New York City Council

Contact your City Council member

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.

The proposed legislation before the City Council, if passed, would begin to undo some of the damage that the unfair practice of pattern bargaining has caused members of the Paraprofessionals Chapter. Substitute paraprofessionals would receive a prorated amount based on the number of days they work.

The pay disparity needs to be addressed now, and over 100,000 New Yorkers agree. It’s a matter of equity, fairness and RESPECT.

Our special education survey in the fall spotlighted the serious shortage of paraprofessionals in New York City public schools. Without offering more money, the DOE cannot hope to retain and recruit enough paraprofessionals.

Please join us in the fight ahead to pass this legislation. Together, we can win.