Why I’m speaking up for us!

My name is Alyson Monzon, and I have been a paraprofessional in Queens for 11 years. For six of those years, I also served as a para representative. Like so many of us, this work is personal to me. I decided to become a paraprofessional because I grew up seeing the hard work, dedication, and love my mother poured into education as a teacher. I also saw how important paraprofessionals were to her classroom and to her students. They were never extra help. They were essential.

Education runs deep in my family. My mother is a retired teacher, all of my siblings are paraprofessionals, and my cousin is a social worker. Working for NYC Public Schools is not just a job to us, it’s part of who we are. Over the years, I’ve worked with students from pre-K through fifth grade, and I’ve heard countless stories from middle school and high school paraprofessionals as well. No matter where we work, the message is always the same:

Paraprofessionals do not get enough credit for everything we do, and we definitely don’t get paid enough. I know it’s not about credit, but too many of us feel the same way. This isn’t made up, it’s our lived experience.

Many of us work two or three jobs just to survive. Many of us are caregivers at home after spending all day caring for students in school. We help students academically, emotionally, behaviorally, and socially. We step in wherever we are needed. Yet somehow, we are still treated like an afterthought.

Despite all of that, I continued pushing myself forward. With the help of the Career Training Program, I was able to finish my bachelor’s degree in psychology and continue my education further. I earned my master’s degree in social work. Having both classroom experience as a paraprofessional and a background in social work has allowed me to see the many gaps that exist within our union and within the systems that are supposed to support us. That is part of why I started becoming more vocal.

I was planning a run for 2nd Vice Chair because I believe paraprofessionals deserve stronger representation and leadership that listens to members. However, I was declared ineligible because I returned from a leave less than two years ago. Two of my union brothers decided to pull out of the race as well, but stay tuned, we will be back, because this is bigger than one election.

Speaking of elections, I think many paraprofessionals are tired of pretending everything is okay. This special election, like many before it, has felt manipulated by the controlling caucus. Let me be clear, I have nothing personal against John Kamps. This is not about one person. This is about fairness and democracy. We have seen that in this election alone, emails were reportedly sent out within the paraprofessional chapter structure asking for para reps and district coordinators to identify schools and paras that had, received ballots, who voted and who voted for John Kamps. How can we call this a democratic union election when things like this are happening?

On top of that, members know almost nothing about the other candidate except for a 75-word statement that came with the ballot. Many paraprofessionals have reached out to the union asking questions and expressing concerns, only to feel rejected, dismissed, or told that the election is being run fairly and properly. We have also been told that the so called election committee has someone on it, WHO DIDN’T EVEN KNOW THEY WERE ON IT! How could that be? So they just moved forward with what they had, instead of ensuring they had a properly constructed committee. Shame on them!

At some point, we have to ask ourselves: When is enough, ENOUGH?

Paraprofessionals deserve a union that welcomes questions, not one that shuts them down. We deserve transparency, respect, and real representation, and we also need to start organizing now around our upcoming contract negotiations because paraprofessionals deserve real respect. Not a disrespectful plan to throw us a $10,000 check and pretend that fixes the actual issue.

No one is saying paraprofessionals should turn down money. We deserve more money, period, but real respect means fighting for permanent improvements to our salaries, pensions, benefits, working conditions, and professional recognition, not political gestures that disappear while the real problems stay the same. Many paraprofessionals are already struggling to survive in New York City. We need solutions that build long-term stability for our families and futures, not temporary headlines.

Most importantly, we deserve to realize the power we have together. I want to continue the conversations. I want to continue meeting paraprofessionals across the city who believe change is possible, because I truly believe we can build the paraprofessional chapter, and the union, that we want and deserve.

It will only happen if we organize, speak up, and stand together. We have the power to bring real change for paraprofessionals. So, I’m asking, who’s with me? Who’s with us?