United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew and New York City paraprofessionals joined City Council Education Committee Chair Rita Joseph, Council Labor Committee Chair Carmen De La Rosa, and Council Members Julie Menin and Crystal Hudson today as Joseph announced proposed legislation designed to reduce the income gap for paraprofessionals. 

The proposed legislation would create a separate "para pay index" outside of contract bargaining that would provide paraprofessionals with an additional $10,000 annually.

"Paraprofessionals are the lifeblood of our public schools. Many work one-on-one with children with autism, visual impairments, medical needs, or special education needs. Without them, our special needs students don't receive the education they are entitled to. The pay system NYC currently uses does not recognize paraprofessionals' work and impact. This legislation seeks to right that wrong," Mulgrew said.

UFT paraprofessionals working for the DOE currently earn from $31,787 to $52,847. City public schools started the school year with nearly 1,600 vacancies for paraprofessionals in part because the current pay makes hiring and retention more difficult. 

Paraprofessionals have been victims of the city’s reliance on “pattern bargaining” in which virtually all employees receive identical percentage pay increases.  

While the UFT’s contract increases for paraprofessionals have outpaced inflation, the fact that para wages start on the lower end of the scale means that percentage increases for them have a much smaller impact on their real income. 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. 

"The math will never add up for paraprofessionals in the current system," Mulgrew said. "Any time we try to break pattern bargaining, the city says one set of employees must give up their raises if others are to get more. The city wants employees to pay for the raises. It is a rigged system that way."

The proposed legislation analyzes the continuing gap between the minimum salary of UFT paraprofessionals and the highest salary of school-based DOE administrators. Applying those differentials results in an annual increase of roughly $10,000 for each school paraprofessional, and pro-rated for UFT substitute paras. 

"We thank Education Chair Rita Joseph for championing this idea and for the support Labor Chair Carmen De La Rosa, Council Member Julie Menin, and Council Member Crystal Hudson have pledged for this proposed legislation. Now let's get it done! Our paraprofessionals have earned it," Mulgrew said.