WHEREAS, UFT paraprofessionals/para-educators play an essential and invaluable role in our school communities by providing accessible, quality educational and support services to all of our schoolchildren; and 

WHEREAS, New York City public schools are experiencing hundreds of para vacancies that may result in thousands of New York City school children not receiving federally mandated IEP services due to shortages of full-time, qualified paras; and 

WHEREAS, our New York City public school paras are struggling to earn a living wage in our city and often have to work multiple jobs to survive; and 

WHEREAS, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), and National Education Association (NEA), alongside dozens of other labor and education organizations have endorsed the November 2023 Senate resolution called The Paraprofessionals and Education Support Staff Bill of Rights, which calls for fairer pay, better benefits, workplace safety, job security, and increased access to training that will give these jobs and the educators who do them the respect they deserve; and 

WHEREAS, the AFT and the NEA have also endorsed the January 2024 Senate and House of Representatives legislation called the Preparing and Retaining All (PARA) Educators Act, which would establish a grant program to help schools recruit, train and retain paraeducators by funding pipeline and credentialing programs, high-quality professional development, and higher wages; therefore be it 

RESOLVED, that the UFT shall educate its members about the significant implications of the Paraprofessionals and Education Support Staff Bill of Rights and the Preparing and Retaining All (PARA) Educators Act, emphasizing the potential benefits for paraprofessionals.