Sunday, May 09, 2021

ONE YEAR SINCE CHAZ PASSING

I was reminded the other night by Lydia Howrilka and Jonathan Halabi that it has been one year since Eric Chaz Chasanoff passed away.

Tonight is a good time to copy Jonathan Halabi's tribute to Eric over at JD2718. It is well worth reading. Eric and I used to talk regularly about our blogs. I think Jonathan captures the essence of what Eric was all about here. At the end, Jonathan notes how Eric always endorsed him in UFT elections.

Here is what Chaz said about my wife and me in his 2013 election endorsement: (note we are no longer in MORE).

Treasurer:  Camille Eterno - MORE  Mel Aaronson was a very effective Treasurer but has been long retired.  I want an active teacher who understands the present day realities of the classroom to handle my money.  Being married to James tells me she is a good decision maker.

Executive Board: - High School -

Jonathan Halabi -  New Action/Unity  He really tries and has been a dissenting voice in the past.

James Eterno - MORE - The best there was, the best there is, and the best there ever will be.

Okay, I probably should not have looked that up but you do understand we respected each other greatly. Rest in peace, Eric.

Jonathan Halabi's tribute to Chaz:

Eric “Chaz” Chasanoff was one of the best-known New York City teacher bloggers. He was an exceptional advocate for teachers, and a opponent of arbitrary and unfair policies.

policies.

Eric wrote regularly for well over a decade. He started in 2006. And he didn’t stop, until COVID stopped him.

During the pandemic he was writing every two or three days. On April 26 he wrote about reducing administrative costs, and not school budgets. And then… Silence. On May 2 I wrote to him. He was already sick, and did not respond. I didn’t know. I wrote to other bloggers, to his UFT borough office. And then we learned.

Eric was a weatherman – on TV – before he was a teacher. He became an earth science teacher. Earth Science Eric. Read here as James Eterno, his UFT Chapter Leader at Jamaica HS, talks about Eric.

Eric wrote about teacher issues. He wrote about teacher financial issues – pension, TDA. He wrote about problem schools, and problem administrators. He wrote about good work the UFT did, and he wrote about serious problems with the UFT.

Eric was independent, and fiercely so. He belonged to no caucus. Every election he endorsed people from each caucus, including some from Unity. I am proud that each time I ran, he endorsed me.

Eric was not a leftist, as some critics of the UFT leadership are. His views tended to be a bit left of center, but they varied, issue to issue. In the last presidential election he lived through, he did not vote for Donald Trump or for Hillary Clinton. I believe, had he lived, he would not have voted in 2020 for Trump or for Biden.

Eric’s most consistent “politics” were those of fairness. He advocated for fair treatment, again and again, for teachers who the system abused. The system abused Eric, too. Read here as NYC Educator Arthur Goldstein stands up for Eric against twisted charges (this is from 2012).

After that, the NYCDoE put Eric, a highly qualified teacher, in excess. They made him what is often called an “ATR” -forcing him to wander from school to school. But for Eric, that gave him more experience to write about, and more people being victimized by bad administrators or by the system to support.

And that’s what he did. He taught. He advocated. He wrote. He wrote after he retired. And he wrote until one week before his death.

He was missed, immediately. Many bloggers wrote of his passing. I didTwiceEric’s memorial page on the “UFT Honors” site is full of tribute.

I will close this post with what I shared on that page:

Eric wrote on his blog Chaz’s School Daze almost two thousand times. Most of his readers, and he had many, did not know his name. He was not writing for recognition, or promotion. He wrote because he cared deeply. He cared about students and schools. He cared about teachers, especially about teachers. And most of all, Eric cared deeply about right and wrong.

I was trying to think of one example that really stood out. And I looked at Eric’s early writings, about politics and teaching and the value of experience – but the one that caught my eye – in his first month on-line – was about a girl’s basketball game. One team’s coach had run up the score badly on a weaker opponent, 137 – 24. Eric, who had coached, was horrified:

  • * Don’t run up the score on an inferior opponent.
  • * Keep your best players out once it is a blowout.
  • * Never embarrass another team.
  • * Show class and be a role model for your players.

It was that same sense of right and wrong that motivated his defense of teachers. And it is that sense of class, and that dedication to fairness that I will remember.

Rest in peace

28 comments:

Anonymous said...

I had deep respect for Chaz. He was on the right side of teachers vs DOE and UFT. His information on pension and retirement was so beneficial to me. More so than anything I heard from the UFT. Who he would have voted for is irrelevant to me. I never looked to his blog for national political commentary. But even had I disagreed with his politics, I would have ignored it. It’s not why I considered him a much needed ally to teachers. God bless Chaz and the loved ones he left behind.

Anonymous said...

I took a lot of comfort in his blog knowing someone was feeling the same frustrations I felt about the system. He really knew how to empathize with teachers and told it like it was.

waitingforsupport said...

Fair and balanced gentleman. Always respectful. I pray that his family realizes that he touched many lives in a positive way--the mark of a life well lived. I was shocked by his death but lucky to have learned from his wisdom. May God bless him.

Anonymous said...

For comparison's sake...sounds like a playbook opposite that of Saul Alinsky.

David Suker said...

In the spirit of Chaz and all the good that he did in educating us I wanted to update this blog with some information that was left in debate a few weeks ago. I just got off the phone with TRS and they told me for the second time that your FAS is calculated based on your highest 3 consecutive school years, not calendar months, so if you work into another school year by a few months like I’m planning to do that extra income is calculated as per session pay.

I miss reading Chaz.

James Eterno said...

Final average Salary from TRS brochure:

The figure is one of the main components used in computing your retirement allowance. Under Tiers III and IV, the FAS generally would be the highest average of wages earned during any continuous period of employment for which you were
credited with three years of service (subject to certain exclusions). Wages earned during any year used in a
FAS calculation cannot exceed the average of the previous two years’ wages by more than 10%; the amount in excess of 10% would be excuded.

James Eterno said...

With all due respect to commenters, please get pension info from TRS more than blog commenters.

https://www.trsnyc.org/memberportal/WebContent/publications/brochures/Brochure103#:~:text=Final%20Average%20Salary%20(FAS),-This%20figure%20is&text=Under%20Tiers%20III%20and%20IV,(subject%20to%20certain%20exclusions).

David Suker said...

That seems to contradict what I was just told. I would advise anyone that was concerned about this to call TRS and have them tell you. I had to wait over 2 weeks for a call back because the first person I talked to couldn’t be bothered with answering my question and I had to request talking to a supervisor. Good luck!

TJL said...

David,
You said the TRS phone rep said,
"your FAS is calculated based on your highest 3 consecutive school years, not calendar months"

This agrees with what James posted from the brochure.

Now when you said, "so if...per session." Was that also "from the horse's mouth", TRS, or did you come to that conclusion yourself? I ask because that part does not appear to be supported by the documentation or even by the first part of what you were told on the phone.

Anonymous said...

Chaz is somewhere enjoying this comment thread. It looks like one of his.

David Suker said...

😂😂😂

David Suker said...

I asked exactly about working into the next school year and how it’s calculated and the supervisor who put me on hold to double check told me it’s considered per session pay.

I’m confused at this point and I’ve done everything this blog has told me to do.

I just wanted to clarify it because previously when talking about this it seems there was no definitive conclusion on how it’s calculated. Personally I don’t see why this question is so difficult to resolve.

David Suker said...

I asked exactly about working into the next school year and how it’s calculated and the supervisor who put me on hold to double check told me it’s considered per session pay.

I’m confused at this point and I’ve done everything this blog has told me to do.

I just wanted to clarify it because previously when talking about this it seems there was no definitive conclusion on how it’s calculated. Personally I don’t see why this question is so difficult to resolve.

TJL said...

I agree David. It seems like the blind leading the blind when dealing with these agencies.

Anonymous said...

David Suker. I feel ya, brother. Nothing is ever easily resolved with this job. I have researched everything I could find to get ready for retirement and have never heard of what you’ve said. Doesn’t NYC provide the salary info to TRS? Wouldn’t NYC be who to call and ask how a mid year retirement salary is calculated. I have 2 friends who retired in early spring, different years and talked about their fas and years of service credit ad nauseum with me. They never mentioned per session playing into it. If you ever find out for sure, please share info.

Jeff said...

I believe that is incorrect. I was told they count back from your last day, 12 months, another 12, another 12. Those are your 3 years. If you leave at the end of the fall term, January 31 2021 back to Jan 31 2020 would be 1 year, for example.

Anonymous said...

It says years, not school years, in the TRS publication. Why would anyone not trust that?

Anonymous said...

Chaz’s blog was a wealth of information which covered a wide spectrum of the major labor challenges and working conditions of the everyday teacher in the New York City. In addition he was very knowledgeable about pensions with simple clarifications including charts and various case scenarios.
However, I will never forget his comments during the days of that May 2014 first UFT contract under DeBlasio. He explicitly said that the only positive was immediate retro for those retiring on June 30, 2014 as opposed to those retiring July 1 or after. He and others used the term—
‘retro delayed is retro denied’. As many teachers know to this day—it was a slap in the face to everyone -that retro pay from previous years—would be paid out in increments over a 6 year period which included one year of 0%. Yet, the bulk of the union members fell into line under Mulgrew.
By the way, the June 30 retirees had to wait till March, 2015 to get their promised immediate retro. It seems that all of a sudden, Mulgrew didn’t know the city only could afford 75% of the retro pay—as thousands of teachers retired on June 30. This went to arbitration and it resulted in that 2014 contract being extended by 6 weeks to ensure 100% retro.

Anyway, to James and all the other educational labor blog authors out there—may the memory of Chaz continue to be an inspiration to you all. Keep up your good work and continue to fight the good fight.

Anonymous said...

If a teacher retires January 1, 2022, -wouldn’t they simply look at your total DOE gross earnings from Jan. 1 to December 31 for the years 2019, 2020 and 2021–which would most likely be your highest consecutive 3 years of earned income?

Anonymous said...

Yes

Not will to die yet said...

My time is worth more then a few bucks.
If this ERI happens , jump on and get on with your lives.
Leave while you can still walk without a cane.

David Suker said...

Call TRS and see what they say. At this point I’ve given up!

Anonymous said...

Always read chaz's blog and it captured alot of the dysfunction in the DOE from a teachers POV.

Anonymous said...

Is there a uft town hall this week?

Anonymous said...

UFT townhall is tomorrow at 4pm.

Anonymous said...

LOL. Nice job. Not convinced yet? I thunk you are paying higher dues starting this Friday.

Mulgrew tells UFT Executive Board that city is not cooperating on retirement incentive, and that two wannabe Bloombergs are viable mayoral candidates.

Anon2323 said...

Thanks for this post. We miss Chaz so much 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏. Need him more than ever, his legacy will carry on and his chaz blog website will always remain as a holy library of incredible information that we can all look back on and smile with admiration for how much he got it.

Anonymous said...

I miss Chaz's blog. I left the DOE with PTSD. I was able to write it out on the blog-no judgement. There were others' experiences and some kooky commenters. A real hodgepodge. It takes a special person to have a community like that.