To the Brink: How a year of resistance, organizing, and political pressure has brought the Para Respect Check Bill One Person Away from Law
Nothing about the Para Respect Bill has come easily.
The Unity Caucus wrote the Bill, advocated for it, and defended it from those who tried to use it to hurt our members.
From the very beginning, this bill faced resistance. Outside groups with competing political and financial agendas worked to stall it. At the same time, members of the ABC Caucus actively opposed it. Their opposition wasn’t passive. It was strategic, aggressive, and public. Their members and leadership took to social media to spread fear, doubt, and misinformation. They tried to turn public opinion against the Bill and treated paraprofessionals as political pawns in their unsuccessful bid for power.
In the face of this opposition, the Unity Caucus kept moving forward. While ABC tried to create division, we organized.
We facilitated a true grassroots movement from scratch. We had hundreds of one-on-one conversations with paraprofessionals, parents, and community members. We met directly with Council Members. In doing so, we created a forum where paras could explain the impact that pattern bargaining has had on them. They explained the real impact of poverty wages. They shared stories of having to choose between rent, groceries, and medication. In doing so, they made clear that the failure to take immediate action would result in unfilled positions and students who went without their legally entitled services.
And the City Council listened!
Support for this bill grew. Not because of politics, but because of truth.
By the time the City Council hearing took place, the shift was undeniable. Elected officials from across the political spectrum publicly criticized the Department of Education and the Office of Labor Relations for failing to bargain with paras in good faith. Joann Ariola, a republican, was one of the loudest advocates for this bill at time when politics is more partisan then ever before. That moment did not happen by accident. It happened because working people organized, testified, and refused to be silenced.
Today, Bill 1261 stands closer to passage than anyone thought possible when this fight began. So close in fact that there is now one person standing in the way, Speaker Adrienne Adams.
We learned on Friday that the bill was deliberately left off the agenda for the November 25, 2025 City Council meeting. Speaker Adrienne Adams, a long-time opponent of this legislation, is once again placing politics above people.
Her silence sends a clear message.
She is unmoved by the real financial suffering of the workers who testified before her.
She is unconcerned that staff shortages are causing violations of students’ IEPs.
She is ignoring the will of the 47 Council Members who have co-sponsored this bill.
She is dismissing the essential and life-changing work of paraprofessionals.
The Unity Caucus is calling on Speaker Adrienne Adams to stand with the more than 26,000 paraprofessionals who serve New York City’s school communities every day by placing the RESPECT Check Bill (Int. 1261) on the next agenda.
We urge you to take a moment to click the link below and send Speaker Adams a message demanding that she honor the will of her colleagues and her constituents and bring this bill to a vote.
The Unity Caucus cannot stay silent when we are this close! Reach out to Speaker Adams on social media or call her office to let her know if she thought we were loud before, she ain’t heard nothin’ yet!
Rochdale Village/South Jamaica Office ☎️ 718-206-2068
South Ozone Park/Richmond Hill Office ☎️ 718-307-5759
City Hall ☎️ 212-482-6731
Email: speakeradams@council.nyc.gov
Instagram: @nycspeakeradams
Facebook: NYCSpeakerAdams
Bluesky: @nycspeakeradams.bsky.social
