Paraprofessionals Need a Raise, Not a Tip

They also need job protections. Parties and handbooks don't cut it.

Right now, you can take a paraprofessional survey over at The Wire. It asks whether paras are paid a fair wage, and whether UFT bosses should commit to a fair wage, as opposed to a non-pensionable bonus here and there. Last I looked the main reason paras were leaving the job had to do with money. (They just don’t make a whole lot of it.)

What with runaway inflation and UFT bosses accepting compensation increases that don’t remotely meet it, I can understand that. Of course it’s not great for anyone, but it’s particularly galling when your salary is very low to begin with. If that isn’t remedied, it’ll be even tougher for city kids to get sorely needed services.

I’m sure that paraprofessionals were represented on the massive UFT Contract Committee, which meets to determine exactly what union members need, with the notable exceptions of money and health care. Oddly, paraprofessionals seem to think money and health care are among the most important issues to negotiate. I only say that because pretty much all members (apart from those supplementing their income with UFT patronage) have the same priorities, and agree with them.

I’ve been speaking to paraprofessionals lately, and they tell me it’s tough to make ends meet. One woman told me she held a master’s degree and was making 47K a year. (That’s where they max out after starting at a little under 30. Try supporting a family in NYC on that.) She said she likes being a paraprofessional, but finds it hard to get by on the salary.

UFT Unity just gutted a resolution that would have committed them to fixing this—first at the Executive Board, and then again at the Delegate Assembly. At the DA, they told paraprofessionals their pay was pretty good already. Of course, UFT Unity para reps making those claims can make triple the salary of most paraprofessionals. While their pay is indeed pretty good, those poor paras doing the actual work are just not feeling it.

Unity patronage recipients who get up and say paraprofessionals have it great can sing that song all day long. After all, they no longer need to get by on para salaries. This arrogant attitude, alas, is not limited to para reps. I remember a particularly tedious chapter leader meeting I had to attend in which we were practically forced to sign COPE forms. You give already? Sign it again. (Really.) Then, the woman giving the presentation told us she understood how difficult it was to recruit contributions. It’s tough to get people to give money, she said. She too would have thought twice about it back when she had to get by on a lowly teacher salary.

(For the record, I halted my COPE contributions when UFT bosses hired lawyers to threaten me, a dues-paying member, for exercising my First Amendment rights and parodying Michael Mulgrew. I pay dues, and I’m not giving Boss Mulgrew one extra cent to indulge his paranoia.)

These are the same people who think it’s perfectly fine to go out and negotiate and work for a contract, but not to talk about money or health care. I guess we’re only allowed to discuss working conditions. This notwithstanding, they are not great, Unity utterly dropped the ball in 2005, and we have not managed to claw our way back. I am horrified when I ask 30-year-old members how they are, and they darkly joke, “Living the dream.”

There are ways to overcome bad working conditions. One is an attitude. That worked for me. Not everyone is my particular brand of crazy, though, and Unity’s approach to poor conditions is, “Shut up and let those of us no longer in the classroom tell you what they are like.”

Back to paraprofessionals, I’ll say one more thing—they are not eligible for tenure because they are not considered pedagogues. Secretaries are considered pedagogues, and therefore eligible for tenure. Now I don’t begrudge secretaries, or indeed any working people job protections. Still, I’m mystified as to why paraprofessionals, who work directly instructing and aiding children, are not pedagogues.

What have UFT Unity bosses done to address this flagrant inequity? You guessed it. Jack squat. They’ve given paraprofessionals a handbook, a party, and let them know that now was a great time for them to sit down, shut up, and stop demanding a fair wage, let alone job protections.

I recently had occasion to meet Migda Rodriguez, elected second vice chair for paraprofessionals. Because Migda is not Unity, the bosses have seen fit to deprive her of a. an office b. time to do her job c. the part or full time paid position Unity members receive upon election d. the ability to communicate with those who’ve chosen her and e. a stinking UFT email address. Just how petty are UFT bosses?

If you’re a paraprofessional, you can get non-Unity information right here. You can take a survey here. It’s important to make your voice heard, no matter how inconvenient those on the Unity Gravy Train may find it.

As chapter leader in a very larger school, I’ve seen several paraprofessionals fired on the spot. I helped them grieve, and did everything in my power to support them. I don’t recall any of these terminations being reversed, though.

Once, an older paraprofessional got fired. I walked her out, told her how sorry I was, and told her we’d appeal. Two weeks later, I got a call in my classroom. This paraprofessional had had a stroke. Her family was on the phone with a school secretary asking whether they should put her in an ambulance, as she no longer carried health insurance.

I was standing there in front of 34 kids, wondering what to say. It was a rare time words did not come quickly. Given my state, momentarity frozen in shock, I’m pretty sure the secretary told them yes, of course put her in the ambulance. Though they did, that paraprofessional died very shortly thereafter.

If only she’d had a handbook. If only she’d had a party at 52 Broadway. If only she’d had a UFT Unity patronage employee instructing her that she had things pretty good, and not to stress over having no job, no income, and no health insurance.

I’m sure paraprofessionals were happy to get a 3K bonus. But how far is that going to get them? It’s especially egregious that the bonus isn’t pensionable. Getting by on a para pension is tough enough without a cruel trick like that.

But what do they care, over at 52 Broadway, doing Whatever It Is they do and getting paid a whole lot more than paraprofessionals do? What genius thought a handbook was a good substitute for decent compensation? What genius thought it was okay for paraprofessionals (and all members) to have no say whatsoever in compensation increases?

And again, what geniuses decided the Municipal Labor Committee was a great place to give a billion dollars of our money back to the city in exchange for a crap contract, sorely diminish our health care, but not set a minimum for compensation increases for NYC employees?

In case you haven’t guessed, that would be Michael Mulgrew and his army of loyalty-oath signing patronage employees. If that upsets you, find someone else to vote for.

If you’re a paraprofessional, check out this website and sign up for email. If you’re a retiree, vote for Retiree Advocate. And if you’re a contributing member of TRS, vote for Ben Morgenroth.

Thanks to Daniel Alicea.