CALL TO ADDRESS PAY INEQUITY COMES ON EVE OF APRIL 2 UFT RALLY OUTSIDE CITY HALL PARK TO SUPPORT PARAPROFESSIONALS

The UFT today launched a television ad campaign calling on members of the New York City Council to pass legislation aimed at providing paraprofessionals an additional $10,000 annually.

The ad, “Crisis," will run from April 1 to April 7 as part of a cable and streaming campaign expected to reach a combined 9 million viewers.

The ad comes on the eve of an April 2 UFT rally outside City Hall Park aimed at gathering support for paraprofessionals and the City Council legislation designed to help them.

"Paraprofessionals are the backbone of our schools. They make sure our most vulnerable students, those with special education needs, can attend school, participate in class, and take part in school activities. But the low pay makes it difficult to recruit and retain these key educators," said Michael Mulgrew, president of the United Federation of Teachers. "We need to fix this injustice. We need the legislation now."

Mulgrew said New York City's current system of pattern bargaining - where all job titles receive the same percentage wage increase - is unfair to lower-wage workers like paraprofessionals. The Council's paraprofessional legislation would provide these educators a $10,000 payment outside traditional contract negotiations.

"Paraprofessionals can't catch up with the way pattern bargaining is stacked. That's why we worked with the City Council to come up with a way to put more money in paraprofessionals' pockets outside of traditional contract negotiations. It would be an annual check. A "respect check," Mulgrew said.

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.

City public schools started the school year with nearly 1,600 vacancies for paraprofessionals, meaning special education students started the school year without the services they are legally required to have. The staffing gap remained steady all year despite a targeted hiring campaign. Paraprofessionals say low pay forces them to give up the DOE jobs they love.

Wednesday's UFT rally will start at 4 pm on Broadway and Park Row, outside City Hall Park, Manhattan.

The UFT ad will appear on local cable outlets, including NY1 and News 12. In addition, the ad will run on YouTube and a radio version on Pandora.

The spot was produced by Andi Johnson, a partner in the media division of GPS Impact.

See the ad: "Crisis"