(NEW YORK CITY) – An Administrative Law Judge has ruled New York City's Department of Education (DOE) violated State Labor Law when it outsourced work reserved for Unionized Para-Professionals to three Non-Union Employees at a Bronx Elementary School.

Judge Kaitlin Santos sided with the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) in the ruling, ordering the DOE to stop reassigning Para-Professional work to Non-Union Employees and make whole any Employee who lost pay or benefits because of reassignment.  

The ruling came as a result of the UFT filing an Improper Practice Charge with the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) in 2023 over the hiring of three Para-Professionals at P.S. 1, the Courtlandt School, from a Non-Union private employment agency. 

The DOE argued the Non-Union Paraprofessionals were hired through the employment agency due to an inability to recruit through typical, Union pathways - but the Judge found the DOE made no effort to negotiate with the UFT for the hiring of more Para-Professionals, which it is required to do - even in emergencies.  

"Here, the record is devoid of evidence that the DOE negotiated with UFT regarding Para-Professional staffing shortages," Judge Santos wrote.  

The UFT celebrated the ruling. 

"We won't allow the DOE to try to do an end run around our Members receiving the fair pay they deserve," Priscilla Castro, who serves as Chair of the UFT Para-Professional Chapter said.  

The Union has made supporting Para-Professionals, who have a starting salary under $32,000 a year, a key priority since eight candidates in the Para-Professional Chapter aligned with the UFT after Union President Michael Mulgrew lost out to insurgent candidates in internal Union Elections in 2024.

“Low wages for our Para-Professionals have left the City with thousands of vacancies every year," Mulgrew said. "The positions are critical for the health and education of our most vulnerable students. As PERB has made clear, the Department of Education can’t sidestep this problem by relying on outside agencies.” 

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