BY CRAIG DIFOLCO

After months of advocacy around the reopening of school buildings, after twice con-vincing the city to delay in-person learning due to pressing safety concerns, and after the announcement of irresponsible instructional guidance, CSA had had enough. On Sept. 27, CSA’s Executive Board issued an unprece-dented, unanimous vote of “No Confidence” in the Mayor and Chancellor.

“This was no doubt the hardest decision that many of our union’s leaders had to make throughout their long educational careers,” said CSA President Mark Cannizzaro. “Our board exhibited integrity and courage in call-ing out the unfortunate miscommunication and mistakes that they knew were negatively impacting their communities. Our mem-bers worked around the clock throughout September to ensure that buildings reopened safely and that they provided the highest qual-ity education possible for both in-person and remote learners. CSA’s elected representatives believed that the City needed additional sup-port from the State and some fresh perspectives as the school year commenced.”

Chief among the grave misgivings school leaders had during the last weeks of the sum-mer was whether they could staff their schools in compliance with DOE guidance. CSA was already questioning the city’s approach publicly in mid-August, and when the DOE announced official guidance at the end of August – far too late – CSA pointed out the repercussions in a public letter to the Mayor. When the DOE announced they planned to provide 2000 additional teachers, CSA pointed out that they would potentially need 10,000. And when the DOE was poised to reopen all schools on Sept. 21, CSA convinced the mayor to delay in person learning for a second time. The mayor decided to phase in the reopening of school buildings so that the lack of in-person staff wouldn’t cause safety concerns through-out the city.

Despite this frustrating history, on Friday, Sept. 25, the DOE repeated their same mistakes by entering into yet another misguided agree-ment that only exacerbated concerns. After the work week had ended, principals began receiving last-minute staffing changes after many schools

had already welcomed back students and our remaining schools were preparing to reopen the following the week. For some, this caused diffi-culties staffing Building Response Teams, those who are responsible for school safety during emergencies as well as safety protocols regarding COVID-19. For many other principals, the guid-ance solidified that their schools would no longer have adequate staff to safely supervise students during arrival and dismissal.

Meanwhile, that same Friday evening, EAs began receiving unclear, last-minute messages that they were to report to random school buildings the next working day. While these administrators were prepared to support their school-based colleagues, many were under-standably confused whether this was in vio-

lation of their union’s recent redeployment agreement and many had tremendous diffi-culty securing sudden childcare and making last minute travel arrangements after having worked remotely for six months.

With all the potential effects from the city’s erratic behavior, the executive board decided CSA should not remain silent when they sin-cerely believed that the mayor and chancellor had mismanaged the reopening of our schools.

To the city’s credit, the mayor, the chan-cellor and their teams have since continued to work closely with CSA for the benefit of those we all serve. NYSED has been monitoring the start of the school year, and members have once again risen to immense challenges as they gradually reopened their school buildings and implemented critical safety protocols. To read the the resolution that CSA’s executive board approved by a unanimous vote on Sept. 27, turn to page 4.

Oct. 2020Volume 56, Number 2American Federationof School Administrators,AFL-CIO Local 1

NEWSCOUNCIL OF SCHOOL SUPERVISORS AND ADMINISTRATORS

A Meeting With Ruth Bader Ginsburg page 3Exposing School, Principal, Teacher Evaluations page 3

Lessons (And An App) Courtesy Of Finland page 5

HONOR

Six NYC Schools Win 2020 Blue Ribbon Awards

BY CHUCK WILBANKS

On May 30, a parade of honking cars and trucks drove by Larry Lord’s Staten Island home.

Students, teachers, families, and noted local officials partic-ipated, as was fitting for a pop-ular and well-known principal who was a staunch champion of his school and the East Flatbush community it served. The party was ostensibly to cel-ebrate his birthday, but it also

had a get-well component as well. Mr. Lord wasn’t at home that day, he was in the hospi-tal, just emerging from a coma.

Mr. Lord, principal of PS 235 in Brooklyn, tested posi-tive on March 21 for Covid-19. He doesn’t remember it now, but on March 24, his wife, Jeanette, called an ambulance which took him to Staten Island University Hospital, and soon after his arrival, doctors placed him on a ventilator.

Continued on Page 12

BY EMMA KATE FITTES

T he U.S. Department of Education awarded six New York City Schools

the 2020 National Blue Ribbon award — a bright spot for school leaders amid the uncer-

tainty and stress of reopening during a global pandemic.

The national program rec-ognizes K-12 schools annually for their overall performance or progress in closing achieve-ment gaps among student

As Frustrations Boil Over, A Vote Of No-Confidence In City’s Officials

Continued on Page 6

Member Near Death, And A Crucial Union Lifeline To His Family

n At PS134 in Brooklyn, from left: Assistant Principal Regina Squadrito, teacher Jennifer McMorrow, Principal Sarah Gobin Darrell, and teachers Danielle Nash and Jule Marino.

For Complete text oF the No-CoNFideNCe resolutioN uNaNimously approved oN september 27 by Csa’s exeCutive board, see page 4

CSA NEWS2 Oct. 2020

Council of School Supervisors & Administrators

American Federation of School Administrators, AFL-CIO, Local 1

40 Rector St., NY, NY 10006 Phone: (212) 823-2020

Fax: (212) 962-6130 www.csa-nyc.org

PresidentMark Cannizzaro

Executive Vice President Henry Rubio

First Vice President Rosemarie Sinclair

Treasurer Christopher Ogno

Secretary Steffani Fanizzi

Vice PresidentsSam Akel

Jose Garcia Ramon Gonzalez

Lois LeeKatiana Louissaint

Nancy Russo, Retiree Chapter

Executive Director Operations Erminia Claudio

General Counsel David Grandwetter

Executive Director Field Services Sana Q. Nasser

Field Directors James Harrigan Frank Patterson Mercedes Qualls

Assistant Field Directors Beshir Abdellatif, Eleanor Andrew, Mildred Boyce, Laverne Burrowes,

Dominic Cipollone, Peter Devlin, Kenneth Llinas, Nancy Esposito, Roberto Flores,

Ellie Greenberg, Ray Gregory, Joseph LaCascia, Monica McDonald, Dorothy Morris, Beverly Pascal-Miller,

Wanda Soto, Yvonne Williams

Grievance Director Dale Kelly

Assistant DirectorsCarol Atkins, Robert Colon,

Jermaine Garden-

Director of CommunicationsCraig DiFolco

Director of Political Affairs Gabe Gallucci

Assistant Director, Political Affairs Herman Merritt

Assistant Director John Khani

Special Assistant to President Gary Goldstein

CSA Conference Chair Pierre Lehmuller

CSA Historian Manfred Korman

CSA Retiree ChapterGayle Lockett, Chair

Mark Brodsky, Director

CSA NEWSEditor

Chuck Wilbanks

Design Consultant Michele Pacheco

Production Assistant Christine Altman

CSA News (004-532) is published monthly except July and August for $35 per year per member by CSA, 40 Rector St., NY, NY 10006. Periodical postage paid at Manhattan, NY, and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to CSA News, 40 Rector St., NY, NY 10006.

PRESIDENT’S PAGE

A year ago, when I sat down to cele-brate our principals for Principals Month, the words flowed freely from a fond and familiar place. I

had personal understanding of your mana-gerial and instructional skills, tenacity, love for your students and the task at hand. The same sense of identification is there when I pay tribute to assistant principals and other administrators. I understand the intricate ways in which you support, and often guide, your staff, students and families.

If only it were as simple this year. You are confronting, head-on, dystopian conditions in ways that leave me in awe. For starters, you’re making sure everyone is masked, physically distanced and not running a fever. Is the ventilation system working? Have the hand sanitizer dispensers been filled? A loud sneeze from a student has become cause for con-cern. A lot of you have had no vacation since last winter and plenty of you are not sleeping as you worry over how you will staff your classes tomorrow and if all your stu-dents can access the Internet.

And yet you’re trusting your instincts in the face of unimaginable demands, keeping your focus on the people in your building and school community, and collaborating mainly with them to figure out what works best for your stu-dents. There is a sense of unity among you, your administra-tors and your teachers, although of course the tensions and the strains on mental health always loom. Your leadership has been remarkable.

With minimal direction or communication from DOE, you and your staffs have been holding the entire system aloft. Back in July, CSA, and many principals individually, warned the mayor and the chancellor that there wouldn’t be enough teachers to implement their plan. The City envisioned one set of teachers for all remote students, another set for in-person students, and yet another set for remote classes taught to the in-person students on the days they are at home. It should have been obvious that the number of appropriately licensed teachers this plan called for would not materialize, not to mention the associated cost in the middle of a budget crisis.

Now, more than half our families have opted to keep

their children home and that number seems to be growing. As that picture has changed, you principals have had to sort out the logistics of daily scheduling. In many cases, substitute staff show up who you don’t even know and you have to fit them into the picture. They vary in skill set, sometimes lack the required licenses, and are often here today and gone tomorrow.

As a result, some schools are unable to offer much, if any, live instruction on the days their hybrid students are at home. Others, to make things acceptable for students, have had to abandon the impos-sible instructional guidance and appeal to the professionalism of their staff to go above and beyond. Thankfully, many ded-

icated teachers and other staff have willingly stepped up. After additional ill-advised guidance was released on Sept.

25, CSA was forced to take extreme action. I presented the details of your situation to the executive board and they delivered a unanimous vote of no confidence in the chan-cellor and the mayor’s ability to lead you through this crisis. This declaration was not made lightly and the mood in the “room” was heavy and serious. We simply refused to accept being hamstrung as we worked to find the best possible solutions for our students

The DOE and the City are not responsible for the pan-demic. However, they are responsible for listening to you when you make strategic recommendations and

let them know what you need to make your schools run safely and effectively. As principals, your common sense, ingenuity and compassion have been epic. Day in and out, messages pop up on my screen and in the media attesting to that. “Happy Principals Month, Ms. Colon! We appreci-ate how you are compassionately leading us through this school year!” Or, “The next time you speak to Mr. Sharkey, please tell him that he’s amazing. He dressed in gym clothes today and delivered books and materials to every classroom.

THE BEST!” Or, “Principal Lucas is the calm amidst the chaos.”

More students will opt in and out. Hotspots and upticks will continue. We will carry on expecting the unexpected. As principals, your leadership in crisis, holding it all together for students and staff, remain-ing upbeat and positive even when you are feeling less than confident yourselves, will cement a bond and trusting relationship with your school community. In fourteen months we will have a new administration, but you and your staff will remain here for students. When this virus has receded and we are saying, “Remember the pandemic of 2020,” the relationship you forged with your school community will set the stage for a stronger school climate that is based on trust and mutual respect. Your school will be an even better place for students to learn and grow. The incredible work you are doing may even be what saves public education in New York City. Principals Month has never been more meaningful. Thank you.

Mark Cannizzaro is president of the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators.

National Principals Month Has Never Meant More. By Mark Cannizzaro

Leadership DuringA Time Of Crisis

• • •

n Paying a visit on a first day of school like no other: At Brooklyn Studio Secondary School, from left: AP Steve Dorcely, CSA President Mark Cannizzaro, Assistant Principal Vincenza Mannino, AP Matthew Katz and AP Bryant Ng.

Season Opener

CSA NEWSOct. 2020 3

BY ALEXIS BLAIR

W hen I became an assis-tant principal at PS 238 in Brooklyn, one of my first initiatives was to create a circulating

school library to help enrich our stu-dents. My principal, the inspiring edu-cator Lawrence Herstik, fully supported my vision, as did our dedicated school staff. We completed the library in 1994 and when Mr. Herstik and I planned a ribbon cutting ceremony, we decided to invite the K-8 school’s most famous alumna: Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who graduated in 1946.

We considered the invitation a longshot. It seemed incredible when Justice Ginsburg accepted our offer and agreed to come. Our ceremony was on a windy November day, and she entered her old school surrounded by her detail of Secret Service agents. Perhaps in part because she had agreed to come, there were many politicians and community leaders who attended as well. There was a palpable sense of excitement throughout our entire school community.

People have often asked me what she was like. I met a woman of quiet grace, who despite her almost austere dignity, was personable and approach-able. She was only the second woman ever appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court, and I knew that she understood not only gender discrimination, but

other historical discriminations as well.Looking back at the picture of our

meeting, I can now fully appreciate her expression of joy as we shook hands. While I was obviously thrilled to meet her, she seemed to be inspired by my presence as well. After all, there were no African-American administrators at the school when she was a student there, and my own path to a school

leadership position was a reflection of social justice efforts that she believed in and supported.

In 1988, I was part of a schoarly pro-gram overseen by Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the for-mer Board of Education to increase the diversity of candidates for leadership roles. The charismatic, trailblazing Dr. Nellie Duncan, one of New York’s first

African-American superintendents, was one of the program’s leaders. After I completed the program, I was proud to become the first African-American assistant principal at PS 238, many decades after it opened its doors.

We gave Justice Ginsburg a proc-lamation and a school doorknob that she promised she would place on her desk, so that people would always know that she had been a 238K stu-dent. She in turn gave our school a medal she had received from an English teacher during her years study-ing at our school. She mused about the knee scrapes she had received in the schoolyard, and said that since her childhood years, the school was more beautiful and well kept. She was sincere and heartfelt in her answers to ques-tions from students, discussing how her mother in law had been deeply supportive of her career, how aviator Amelia Earhart had been an inspiration (“since not many women were prac-ticing law,”) and how, as a justice, she

struggled emotionally with cases involv-ing the death penalty. She told us how happy she was to have the 238K library named in her honor.

Her cadence was well-suited to the occasion – “My heart is just brimming over,” she said. “This is where I learned to read and to love learning”.

Alexis Blair retired in 2010. She now works as an educational consultant.

‘Where I Learned to Love Learning:’ A Meeting With Ruth Bader Ginsburg

n Alexis Blair, assistant principal of PS 238, Brooklyn, shakes Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s hand during a celebration for a new library at the school in 1994.

Follow The Money: ELI Consultant’s New Book Debunks School, Principal, Teacher Evaluations

CHUCK WILBANKS

In his new book, Principals and Teachers Can’t Do It All: Other Factors That Impact on the Success of Students and Schools, Charlie Bonnici draws upon his fifty years of experience as an educator and an abundance of research to demon-strate that principals have less influence over the success of schools than the ana-lytics would indicate. These statistical analyses are flawed because they fail to

acknowledge the impact of several factors vital to stu-dent success.

Mr. Bonnici’s first chap-ter, “Money,” sets the stage. It begins with a global per-spective comparing stu-dent achievement scores in dozens of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) member nations. Then it compares student achieve-ment rates in different states in America, in two nearby districts on Long Island and finally in elementary schools in the borough of Manhattan. Academic mea-surements are provided alongside data on government spending on educa-tion, poverty ratios, income inequality and national on childcare leave. While spending on education has some impact, the poverty rate and income inequality of a nation, state, district or school are more important.

Money impacts the other factors that affect student and school achievement:

• Governmental policy makers and district decision-makers who often care more about politics, cost-saving and catering to advocacy groups than the welfare and education of children;

• Poorly designed or deteriorating physical plants, insufficient capital

spending and the location of schools;

• Parents and child care-givers who dominate the lives of children during the critical first three years (and 80 percent of their childhoods thereafter) without sufficient societal supports;

• The students them-selves, many coming to school with the trauma of poverty and under the worst influences of the

technological revolution; • The support staff of the school, an

underlying bureaucracy, often under-funded, firmly in place when a new principal is assigned.

The final chapters look at what dif-ferences teachers and principals can make given the impact of these factors, at a time when they are sometimes insufficiently trained, always underpaid, under-appreciated and under-valued for their experience and expertise.

“I applaud Charles Bonnici for dar-ing to dive into this deep, sober exam-ination and analysis of our public schools,” wrote CSA President Mark Cannizzaro in the book’s forward. “He makes a significant contribution to understanding the extremely complex institutions that contribute more than

any other to the very fabric of society.”Mr. Bonnici began his career as a

teacher at the old Louis D. Brandeis H.S. He became an assistant principal and then principal at the High School of Fashion Industries. Upon his retire-ment, he worked for Pace University, coordinating aspects of the Educational Leadership program, working with the Teach for America and Teaching Fellow programs, and serving as Director of School Partnerships; he also developed and taught several leadership courses. In 2011, he began as an Executive Leadership Institute consultant, mento-ring newly assigned APs and facilitating

workshops. This is the fourth book he has written while serving in this capacity.

Principals and Teachers Can’t Do It All is scheduled to be published by Rowman and Littlefield in February 2021. If you’re interested in reading it, email Mr. Bonnici at profchuck1@veri-zon.net. He will provide you with order-ing information and a pre-publication promo code for a 30 percent discount.

School Success Related to Poverty Rates, Income Inequality, Other Factors

Charles Bonnici

CSA NEWS4 Oct. 2020

N A T I O N

Education

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, along with education, business, labor and workforce leaders, launched tuition-free college to around 625,000 Michiganders who provide essential, frontline services during COVID-19 Stay Home, Stay Safe orders that were in effect between April and June 2020. “Futures for Frontliners” is available to medical workers but also essential workers in manufacturing, nursing homes, grocery stores, sanitation, delivery, retail and more. (WBKB11)

— Compiled by Christine AltmAn

MICHIGAN

Free Tuition

The office of the State Auditor recently reported on findings in an investigative audit of Epic Charter Schools, finding that Epic’s co-founders’ for-profit com-pany receives about 1 in 4 of the taxpayer dollars Epic receives as a public school. In all, the audi-tor stated Epic owes Oklahoma $8.9 million. The auditor rec-ommended Oklahoma consider prohibiting new charter contracts or renewals for schools operated by for-profit organizations, and that it consider consolidating its charter school authorization sponsorship and oversight to one agency. (Tulsa World)

OKLAHOMA

Charter Audit

NORTH CAROLINA

Charters, SegregationUsing data from almost 11,000 North Carolina families from 2015-16, researchers measured the impact of white migration from public to charter schools and found it led to racial segre-gation. Charter backers claim their schools address educa-tional inequity, but since the introduction of charters in the 1990’s, some voiced concerns that locations, transportation and other criteria could lead to increased segregation. The research paper, “Parental Preferences for Charter Schools in North Carolina: Implications for Racial Segregation and Isolation,” was written by Helen F. Ladd and Mavzuna Turaeva. (National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education)

A group of Seattle startup vet-erans launched “Two Screens for Teachers” to provide teach-ers with second monitors to make teaching remotely easier. Completing all tasks related to teaching on one monitor can be stressful and ineffective. A dual monitor setup allows teachers to view their students on one mon-itor and their class materials on another. An automated system matches donors with teachers and is designed to help teachers pick the correct video cable for their needs. (Geekwire.com)

WASHINGTON

Screens For Teachers

No-Confidence ResolutionRebukes NYC’s Mayor And Public Schools Chancellor

Following is the text of the no-confidence resolution that CSAs’ Executive Board unani-mously approved on Sept. 27, 2020.

WHEREAS, the Council of School Supervisors & Administrators (CSA), Local 1, American Federation of School Administrators, AFL-CIO is the labor union which represents over 6,400 Principals, Assistant Principals, Supervisors, Education Administrators, and Directors in New York City’s 1,800 public schools and central offices and 200 Directors and Assistant Directors in city-funded Early Childhood Education Centers;

WHEREAS, CSA members want school buildings and early childhood education centers safely reopened for in-person learning due to their profound, unique

understanding of the role that public schools play in the lives of our commu-nities;

WHEREAS, CSA members have been tirelessly planning to reopen school build-ings and the offices that support them since the 2019-2020 school year ended in June;

WHEREAS, CSA members are tasked by New York City and its Department of Education (DOE) with ensuring the safety, health, and well-being of those they serve during a global pandemic, and they stand ready and willing to take on that respon-sibility;

WHEREAS, Mayor de Blasio and Chancellor Carranza have entered into grossly irresponsible staffing agreements that fail to prioritize the needs of school children and their families;

WHEREAS, Mayor de Blasio and Chancellor Carranza have created, by vir-tue of these agreements, staffing shortages of roughly 12,000 teachers, according to the estimate of DOE officials, and yet no announcements regarding additional staffing were made until the week after students were originally scheduled to return to buildings;

WHEREAS, CSA and individual school leaders continually warned Mayor de Blasio and Chancellor Carranza about the staffing crisis, both publicly and privately, since the DOE first announced the hybrid model at the start of July;

WHEREAS, Mayor de Blasio and Chancellor Carranza would not make the responsible, prudent decision to delay in-person learning without the relentless

advocacy of CSA and its members from nearly 30 districts who wrote public let-ters to call for a delay due to safety con-cerns;

WHEREAS, Mayor de Blasio and Chancellor Carranza promised to pro-vide 4,500 additional teachers to elemen-tary and K-8 schools, and as of Friday, September 25th, over 200 elementary school principals reported that they still needed over 1,200 teachers for Tuesday, September 29th;

WHEREAS, Mayor de Blasio and Chancellor Carranza still refuse to state publicly how many additional teachers are needed by Thursday, October 1st, to safely reopen middle and high school buildings, and have thus far failed to announce a clear, comprehensive plan to provide those additional teachers;

WHEREAS, CSA members have reported that district superintendents verbally pressured them to falsely report that their staffing needs are already met after they requested additional staff due to safety concerns;

WHEREAS, Mayor de Blasio and Chancellor Carranza have demonstrated a lack of transparency about whether the additional teachers the DOE has hired are legitimately qualified or prepared to provide the quality of education that New York City students deserve;

WHEREAS, Mayor de Blasio and Chancellor Carranza have provided school leaders with late, inadequate, and inconsistent guidance throughout the pandemic, often creating situations where school leaders learn of policy through the press or their teaching staff, and often cre-ating situations where school leaders must make decisions in the absence of guidance and then reverse those decisions and alter plans when guidance is finally released;

WHEREAS, Mayor de Blasio and Chancellor Carranza exacerbated the staff-ing problems and programming difficul-ties by announcing yet another last-min-ute staffing change at the close of business on Friday, September 25th, after many schools have already been in session for over a week, and when all other schools will welcome students back into buildings next week;

WHEREAS, Mayor de Blasio and Chancellor Carranza, by virtue of the September 25th agreement on remote teaching, have solidified that schools will not have adequate staff in the building to safely supervise children during arrival, dismissal, and when coverages are needed throughout the school day, and have fur-ther created staffing difficulties on the critical Building Response Team (BRT);

WHEREAS, Mayor de Blasio and Chancellor Carranza pledged to New York City parents that students would receive live instruction on days where they were learning remotely, and then reversed course the day before remote learning began to help solve the staffing crisis they created;

WHEREAS, Mayor de Blasio and Chancellor Carranza have failed to provide schools with all the electronic devices that are essential to remote learning, leaving far too many students without;

WHEREAS, Mayor de Blasio and Chancellor Carranza have invested far too little in remote learning professional development despite the fact that most students will be learning remotely on most days;

WHEREAS, Mayor de Blasio and Chancellor Carranza have failed to be transparent with data on remote learn-ing since March, requiring New York City Council to subpoena the DOE;

WHEREAS, Mayor de Blasio and Chancellor Carranza mismanaged sum-mer school, preventing students from receiving the additional academic support they required;

WHEREAS, Mayor de Blasio and Chancellor Carranza failed to submit their critical safety plan to New York State on time;

WHEREAS, Mayor de Blasio and Chancellor Carranza have not provided custodial engineers with the resources and manpower necessary to disinfect and deep clean schools as frequently and diligently as indicated in the DOE safety plan;

WHEREAS, Mayor de Blasio and Chancellor Carranza tasked instructional leaders to conduct safety walkthroughs who were unqualified and untrained to conduct them, and only announced the creation of a ventilation task force after grave concerns were raised by CSA and others;

WHEREAS, Mayor de Blasio and Chancellor Carranza failed to meet their own deadline for providing much-de-manded ventilation reports to each school community;

WHEREAS, Mayor de Blasio and Chancellor Carranza announced guidance on outdoor learning far too late for school leaders to craft and implement a mean-ingful plan for their school;

WHEREAS, Mayor de Blasio and Chancellor Carranza have established a Situation Room to supposedly remedy the problems caused by DOE’s inability to provide timely and consistent direction regarding positive cases of COVID-19, yet the Situation Room has only worsened problems due to its inordinate wait times, erroneous guidance, and contradictory directives;

WHEREAS, Mayor de Blasio and Chancellor Carranza have failed to equip superintendents and executive superin-tendents with information necessary to consistently provide school leaders with the support and information they require;

WHEREAS, Mayor de Blasio and Chancellor Carranza are presiding over an exodus of their own high-ranking officials as the school year is due to begin;

NOW THEREFORE, on this 27th Day of September 2020, be it resolved that the CSA Executive Board declares a vote of no confidence for Mayor de Blasio and Chancellor Carranza due to their failure to lead New York City through the safe and successful reopening of schools. CSA calls on Mayor de Blasio to cede mayoral control of the Department of Education for the remainder of this health crisis and for Mayor de Blasio and Chancellor Carranza to seek the immediate inter-vention of the New York State Education Department.

‘Mayor Bill de Blasio and Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza have entered into irresponsible staffing agreements that fail to prioritize children and their families.’

CSA NEWSOct. 2020 5

Visit Yor Union On The Web At:

www.csa-nyc.

org

No matter which side of the political spec-trum you’re on, this year has been a year like no other. The COVID-19 pandemic, economic destruction, struggles for racial

justice, civil unrest, wildfires, hurricanes, the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and the continued debate over in-person instruction ver-sus fully remote are just a few of the 2020 head-lines. Against that backdrop, we have a polarizing Presidential election taking place between Donald Trump and Joe Biden on Nov. 3.

Before discussing why your vote matters in this election, it is important for you to understand our endorsement process. In the case of this pres-idential election, we sent a survey to the entire membership. We received over two thousand responses, of which 90 percent recommended we endorse in this presidential election; 80 percent recommended that CSA endorse the Biden/Harris ticket; 15 percent recommended that CSA should endorse the Trump/Pence ticket, and 5 percent were undecided. Based on those results, our leader-ship team consulted with the advisory board, and with their approval, the leadership team motioned a vote of approval of the Biden/Harris ticket from the executive board. The executive board approved the recommendation.

We understand that some of you don’t vote solely on what’s best for your profession, but we are encouraging members to vote for the Biden-Harris ticket as the best advocates for our mem-bership, our public schools, and the kids we serve. It seems that every presidential election year both sides of the aisle say that the current election is the most important in the history of elections.

This year, however, I would agree with those senti-ments. Your vote could impact the trajectory of our education system, our country, and our democracy for years to come.

It’s imperative to understand why voting in this year’s election is crucial. First, the inequality gap we face in America with millions of students through-out the country having unequal access to a quality education is growing. That gap has widened since the pandemic and could widen even more based on the outcome of this election. Early childhood education has also become a major issue as research continues to shine light on the impact of social and cognitive growth at a young age. Early childhood education is ripe for policy change and budget increases, but could see decreases in funding based on the presidential outcome. Finally, the outcome of the election could jeopardize public education as we know it, the security and benefits of our membership, and most importantly, the health and safety of the children we serve.

During this moment in history, education has become front and center in the news, and people see clearly the impact our education system plays in our daily lives. From the

stability of our economy, to the long-term impact quality education (or lack thereof) can have on the success of future generations, this moment has highlighted that education is simply too import-ant for politicians at any level to ignore. And we shouldn’t either. PLEASE VOTE!

Gabe Gallucci is director of political affairs at CSA.

2020 Is A Political Year Like No OtherLegislative Agenda Gabe

Gallucci

Public Schools As We Know Them May Be At Stake In This Election

• • •

Lessons (And App) From FinlandBY JACEK POLUBIEC

Last year, I came across information about a partnership between NYC schools and a Finnish company named 3DBear. I proceeded to organize a group of educators interested in getting involved. We called ourselves the Learning Leaders Consortium and by the end of summer, all 11 of us were eager to take advantage of the opportunity to work with Finnish educators on how to use the 3DBear digital learning platform to enrich student learning, while honing our own leadership skills.

Since then, we participate in remote meetings and hands-on sessions to learn to use the app to manipulate virtual reality, applying design principles to provide an engaging remote learning experience. It’s dynamic in that a student can illustrate stories or math problems with pictures they take, which then appear as 3D objects. They can move the objects, even create their own classrooms. Teachers have great tools as well, such as libraries of digital 3D objects to choose from.

The overarching question for our consortium has been how our learning together could impact educa-tion moving forward. We are not alone in our belief that innovation is no longer a choice but a necessity that urgently needs to be addressed.

To make sure we stay on course, we constantly reflect on our time together. Our group provides feed-back to the facilitators who are extremely receptive and willing to constantly adjust the program so it meets the needs of each participant and the school communities which we serve. Allow me to relay some comments of the members of our consortium:

• Shamecca Kirk, PS 134, Bronx, AP values “prac-tical resources that make lessons more engaging with the use of technology.”

• ENL Teacher Sesaley Graciani appreciates “col-laborating with passionate educators” and believes that 3DBear has tools for her students “to engage with their environment and grade level content in a more meaningful way.”

• Ivelisse Rivera, a teacher and LEAP alumna, has been learning how to use 3DBear to create an inclu-sive, equitable and virtual environment. Her ICT

partner, special education specialist Deanna Parasram, calls 3DBear, “the future of education occurring in the present that gives students access to and control of their learning.”

• Dileida Gracia, Lead Teacher (and a graduate of Fordham Leadership Program) believes that learning with our group expanded her way of thinking about engaging students and she looks forward to “collabo-rating with the grade teams on how to implement VR into all lessons.”

• Nekia Williams, Teacher, Leader and aspiring administrator said, “Collective efficacy of this collabo-ration affords us to make a positive change in the way we teach and lead.”

• Mr. Edward Taveras, a STEM teacher, appreciates that 3DBear lends itself to design thinking, problem solving and creativity.

We want to be agents of change during these difficult times. We are all equal partners in this transformative journey. 3DBear brought us together, our commitment keeps us on track, but it is our individual responsibility to act within our day to day roles that provides relevance and substance to this initiative.

None of what we are doing would be possible without my district’s clear vision to bring new and innovative ideas to our community, which inspired me to look outside the proverbial box and empow-ered me to run with this idea. We would also like to give a tremendous shout out to the supervisors of all participants of this initiative for their moral and prac-tical support. Your dedication to our collective cause is greatly appreciated. For comments and questions for our work, I can be reached at JPolubi@Schools.NYC.Gov.

Dr. Jacek Polubiec is Assistant Principal in CSD12.

n A teacher uses the new app and what he’s learned to engage and motivate students.

Teachers’ Retirement

SystemOctober 2020

Unit Values

Diversified Equity Fund: 104.092

Balanced Fund: 16.574

International Equity Fund: 10.685

Sustainable Equity Fund: 22.615

U.S Equity Index Fund: 11.998

International Equity Index Fund: 10.851

www.trsnyc.org

CSA NEWS6 Oct. 2020

groups. Here’s what the principal of each winning school said contributed to their success and how they are approaching the new school year:

“Parents are excited about it,” says Williamsburg High School For Architecture and Design Principal Gill Cornell. “It’s a nice morale booster.”

Williamsburg High School For Architecture and Design

For Mr. Cornell, it’s significant that the US DOE recognized Williamsburg High School for its gen-eral excellence, which considers among other mea-sures student test scores. He says it wasn’t entirely unexpected that the school might win for its work to close the achievement gap, given the challenges facing many of their students.

The Brooklyn high school is unscreened, and nearly one quarter of the around 600 students have special education needs, according to state data. Around 80 percent are considered low-in-come, Mr. Cornell says, but added, “I know this might sound overly simplistic, but we just don’t categorize the kids based on that. We set the expectation; we keep it.”

When he took over as principal more than a decade ago, Mr. Cornell’s leadership team priori-tized boosting enrollment, improving the gradu-ation rate, and securing better funding for more robust career and technical classes, including the current four-year architecture program. To Mr. Cornell, the general excellence award is proof they’ve succeeded in helping every student not just improve, but reach high expectations.

This school year may look different, with many students opting for remote learning in light of the coronavirus, but Mr. Cornell says teachers are working to keep students engaged. Later this year, staff members will do a virtual tour of a project site, walking the area with iPads so architecture students can complete a professional survey with-out having to get on a bus for a field trip.

PS 46 Alley Pond Elementary School

Principal Stamo Karalazarides says she would rather solve problems than talk about them. When a teacher comes to her with one, she tells them to come back with a solution they can discuss. That perspective has shaped her six years as principal of the Bayside elementary school, and she attributes some of their students’ success to that attitude.

Teachers are encouraged to look at what stu-dents can do, not what they can’t, which has proven especially important for the school’s large special education population. State data shows more than 22 percent of the school’s 500 students have special needs. Expectations are never low-ered, Ms. Karalazarides says. Instead, teachers meet students where they are, learn their strengths, and raise them to meet expectations.

“When we don’t do something for accolades, when we don’t do something for test scores, when we truly treat individuals the way that they deserve to be treated, that’s when we get the most impact,” she says. “And that’s what we do at 46.”

That same attitude has carried Ms. Karalazarides and her team through 2020 and the start of an unprecedented school year.

“Looking at what you can do, what we can do as a family, it’s just a perspective that I keep ini-tiating,” she says. “It helps to keep light around every situation.”

PS 134 Elementary School In the hallways at PS 134, it’s not uncommon

to hear students speaking in Russian, Tajik, Uzbeck, Arabic or Urdu. The Brooklyn elementary school welcomes students from many countries and the

surrounding community, says Principal Sarah Gobin Darrell, and that makes it important for the school to have a similarly diverse set of teachers, who take the time to get to know each student and their culture. It allows teachers to better tailor their instruction, says Ms. Gobin Darrell.

“We just try to get to know our students one on one,” says Ms. Gobin Darrell, who has served as principal for two years. “Really try to learn our kids inside out, socially, academically… to get to know their families.”

Instead of teachers selecting the books students read throughout the year, students are allowed to choose based on their interests. And the school holds parent workshops every month, where fami-lies can discuss what their children are learning.

Both initiatives will continue this school year, says Ms. Gobin Darrell. Although COVID has forced the school to limit how many visitors can come into buildings, the monthly workshops are continuing virtually.

PS 101 Verrazzano Elementary School

Principal Gregg Korrol’s goal is for each of the more than 960 students at PS 101 to find enjoy-ment in coming to school. That’s what makes the Brooklyn school successful, Mr. Korrol says. If stu-dents are having a good time, they learn more.

In practice, that means the elementary puts a heavy emphasis on arts — including drama, music, dancing, digital arts — and technology. Even before COVID-19 forced schools to rely on virtual learning last spring, PS 101 students were assigned a device and turned in assignments online. The push was driven largely by the oppor-

tunity technology creates for engaging lessons, Mr. Korrol says. Two years ago, teachers started using augmented reality technology, which allowed stu-dents to scan and digitally interact with objects.

For teachers, moving curriculum and lessons plans online made it easier to collaborate across classrooms and grade levels, which has proven especially important this year. Mr. Korrol says

Secrets To Success: Public Schools Win Blue Ribbon AwardsContinued from Page 1

n Assistant Principal Stephanie Famoso, left, and Principal Stamo Karalazarides, at PS46.

n From left to right: Assistant Principal Patricia Percaccio, Principal Gregg Korrol, and Assistant Principal Elisa Kane of The Verrazzano School in Staten Island.

CSA NEWSOct. 2020 7

Secrets To Success: Public Schools Win Blue Ribbon Awards

there is “no difference” between what students are learning in-person versus at home.

“I’ve made it clear to the staff: We are 101, we do what we’ve always done,” Mr. Korrol says. “It’s still about the PS 101 experience, still about mak-ing sure our kids are advancing and learning.”

PS 94 David D. Porter Elementary School

When Laura Avakians became principal of PS 94 six years ago, the Little Neck elementary school offered few electives and saw little collaboration among teachers. Ms. Avakians quickly encour-aged teachers to know what was happening across their own grade level and in the grades below and above.

The collaborative team then worked to bring everything from glee club and musical theater to recycling squad and lego robotics into the school day. Coding quickly started overlapping with every core subject, including social studies and sci-ence. Now, Ms. Avakians credits a large part of the school’s success to their focus on computer science.

For social studies, students may recreate a his-torical war by programming their robots to follow paths that align with the different motivations for or against the war. In math class they may pro-gram a dash-and-dot robot to do basic addition and subtraction, tasked with checking its answers for accuracy.

“Our engagement went through the roof in every subject area,” Ms. Avakians says, and higher state standardized test scores have followed.

Next month, Ms. Avakians says teachers plan to integrate computer science lessons into remote learning after initially resorting back to basics.

“We cannot forget about all the work that we’ve done so far just because COVID is throwing a monkey wrench in our whole environment and way of learning,” she says. “Our passion will con-tinue to be embedding computer science.”

PS 23 The Richmondtown School On the wall in PS 23 are the words “empathy,”

“respect,” “share,” and “grit,” among others — the characteristics that set the Staten Island school

apart, says Principal Paul Proscia.In his eight years as principal, Mr. Proscia has

built a collaborative team of teachers who priori-tize teaching their elementary students about lead-ership and other personal skills. He adopted a pro-gram based on “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People,” a self-help book which recommends nav-igating life by being proactive, beginning with the end in mind, and thinking “win-win.”

“It makes you great as an individual and also makes you great as a team,” Mr. Proscia says. “It was already a well-performing school, but with the increase in our focus on becoming a strong indi-vidual…that has enhanced everything.”

For Mr. Proscia, it’s been difficult to stay posi-tive in the face of mounting challenges and shift-ing expectations. At one point, he asked himself, “Is it all worth it?”

“You have these conversations with yourself and something like this [award] makes you realize that it is,” he says. “Teaching [students] all the virtues...makes them smart, educated and people with strong character. That’s what society needs.”

n From left: Principal Gill Cornell, Business Manager Rudy Cruz, Assistant Principals Kimberley Bruno, Giovanni D’Amato and Maria Basilio.n From left to right: Assistant Principal Patricia Percaccio, Principal Gregg Korrol, and Assistant Principal Elisa Kane of The Verrazzano School in Staten Island.

n Far left: At PS 23, The Richmondtown School in Staten Island, are Principal Paul Proscia, and Assistant Principal Renee Mazza.

n Left: Principal Laura Avakians at PS 94, David D. Porter Elementary School in Queens.

CSA NEWS Oct. 20208

n EUGENE KASEMAN, 87, died Sept. 4. He lived in Coconut Creek, FL. Mr. Kaseman was born in 1933 in Brooklyn and grew up in Bensonhurst, according to his daughter Gerri Butterman. He attended Lafayette High School, before leaving to serve in the US Air Force during the Korean War. He was based near Niagara Falls, relaying Morse Code mes-sages. He also received his high-school diplo-ma there. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Long Island University’s College of Business Administration, and a master’s degree from New York University’s School of Education. His spent his career at the elementary school level, starting as a teacher, then becoming an assistant principal in Bedford-Stuyvesant for 17 years before becoming principal of PS 197 in Queens, where he retired in 1989. Mr. Kaseman married the former Billie Yellen in April 1960. The couple raised their fami-ly in Merrick, NY. After his retirement from DOE, Mr. Kaseman took a job as principal of Fort Lauderdale Preparatory School, where he served for 17 years. He retired in 2012. Mr. Kaseman enjoyed swimming, tennis, biking, paddleball and racquetball. He was also an amateur actor, who appeared in productions staged by his synagogue on Long Island as well as in Florida. “He loved what he did,” said his daughter, Gerri Butterman. “He was larger than life. He was a happy man.” Mr. Kaseman’s wife of 53 years predeceased him in 2013. In addition to Mrs. Butterman, he is survived by his son, Bruce Kaseman, and another daugh-ter, Wendy Meyer, as well as six grandchildren.n DIANE DENNING, 67, died April 19. She lived in Rockaway. Mrs. Denning was born in Brooklyn and graduated from the former Canarsie High School. She earned a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree from Brooklyn College and held licenses in general and spe-cial education. Mrs. Denning spent her entire 33-year career at PS 312 in the Bergen Beach neighborhood of Brooklyn. She worked in ARC special-needs day-care services, became a first-grade teacher, an assistant principal in 2003, and principal in 2011. She retired in 2014. In addition to her husband of almost 40 years, James Denning, a custodial engineer whom she met while he was driving a school bus, Mrs. Denning is survived by a son, Joseph, and two grandchildren. “She was the most wonderful and generous person in the world,” Mr. Denning said. n IDA ECHEVARRIA, 91, died Aug. 23. She lived in Ponte Vedra, FL. Born in the Bronx, she graduated from Walton High School and earned a bachelor’s degree from Long Island University and a master’s degree from Fordham University. Her daughter, Pegine Echevarria, said she was just shy of earning her doctorate from Fordham. Ms. Echevarria began her career as a teacher, then direct-ed the Head Start program at an elementary school in the Bronx, before transferring to an experimental school in the borough, PS 211 — where classes were taught in English and Spanish in an open-classroom setting. She went on to serve as an assistant principal. She was appointed assistant superintendent for District 8 in the Bronx, before moving to DOE headquarters as director of testing in the early 1970s. Her daughter, noting that her mother was, at the time, the highest-ranking Latina at DOE and was one of two of the highest ranking women there. Ms. Echevarria retired in 1988, but served as a consultant to the DOE and to the Head Start program. In 1998, Mrs. Echevarria and her second husband, Larry Schwartz, moved to Ponte Vedra, the head-quarters of the PGA, near Jacksonville. Mr. Schwartz was an avid golfer and his wife had also taken up the sport. “She always won the award of top comedian,” said her daughter of her mother’s golf outings. Mrs. Echevarria enjoyed singing; she also participated in mara-thons before suffering a stroke nine years ago. Mr. Schwartz predeceased his wife about five years ago. In addition to her daughter, she is survived by her son, Steven Gustafson; a sister,

Lupe Echevarria and four grandchildren.n ROBERT J. FERLAUTO, 91, died April 23. He lived in Syosset, NY. Mr. Ferlauto was born in the Crown Heights community of Brooklyn. He graduated from Stuyvesant High School, where he was a member of the ROTC and attained the rank of Major. He earned a bach-elor’s degree from the State University of New York Teachers College at Oswego. According to his wife, the former Eileen Amato, Mr. Ferlauto also earned a master’s degree by attending St. John’s University and New York University. Mr. Ferlauto began his 39-year career as an elementary school teacher in Brooklyn, then transferred to Benjamin Franklin Junior High School in Harlem. He went on to teach at a school for students with special needs in Manhattan, before being appointed an assistant principal at Intermediate School 55 (Ocean Hill Brownsville) in Brooklyn, where he served for 21 years, before retiring in 1990. While at IS 55, Mr. Ferlauto was asked to lead a group called the Neighborhood Youth Corps, which trained and helped underprivileged teens find summer jobs. Post retirement, Mr. Ferlauto served on the Board of Examiners for over a year. As a high-school student and member of the ROTC, his family noted that he was chosen from thousands around 1948 to serve as “Admiral for a Day,” under former Navy Admiral Thomas Kinkaid. Events took place aboard an aircraft carrier in New York Harbor. In retirement, Mr. Ferlauto lived part-time in Lake Worth, FL, with his wife. He loved boating, golf, the arts and music. In addition to his wife of 66 years, Mr. Ferlauto is survived by two sons, Robert Jr. and David; a brother, Edward, and four grandchildren.n MOE FINKELSTEIN, 87, died July 13. He lived in of Plainview, NY. Mr. Finkelstein was born in Brooklyn and graduated from Thomas Jefferson HS where he was a running back on the varsity football team. He received a

bachelor’s degree in economics from Bucknell University in Lewisburg, PA, where he had been recruited to play football. Waiting to be drafted, he returned to Thomas Jefferson to assist his former coach, Rip Goldman, and after three deferments,

was drafted into the 101st Airborne Division of the Army. Discharged early, he returned to coaching at Thomas Jefferson. “He did not intend to coach,” said his wife of 60 years, Elaine Finkelstein, yet he took over as head coach in 1955 at age 22. He retired there as coach and assistant principal of health and physical education in 1987. According to the New York Times, Mr. Finkelstein compiled a 202-57-3 record as head coach at Thomas Jefferson. He guided the team to unofficial city championships in 1963 and1965, three “official” PSAL titles in 1971, 74 and 75, and second-place finishes in 1978 and 79. Players of his include former Green Bay Packers run-ning back John Brockington, and Otis Wilson, a former linebacker for the Chicago Bears. Mrs. Finkelstein met her husband-to-be when a student at Thomas Jefferson. “I loved him from the time I first saw him,” she said. “Moe was constantly drawing on scraps of paper, x’s and o’s,” said his wife, who learned the shorthand. Ira Kaminsky, a teacher and coach who at one time quarterbacked for Mr. Finkelstein, called his former coach “the greatest human being I ever met. Not only did he teach his players not to quit, he was like a psychologist. He handled every kid differently.” Despite Mr. Finkelstein’s public legacy being rooted in football, Mr. Kaminsky said, “Education was number one for him. We were in a lower middle-class community and every one of my teammates went to college and got a degree.” After Mr. Finkelstein retired from the DOE, he opened

a childcare center at C.W. Post University in the early 1990s. His wife said he worked at the center until 2007. In addition to his wife, Mr. Finkelstein is survived by two children, David and Karyn, and four grandchildren.n DANIEL GARCIA, 72, died June 4. Mr. Garcia was born in the Bronx, grew up in Manhattan, attended Bayside High School in Queens and graduated from DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Spanish literature from the University of South Florida, and a master’s degree in Spanish from Hunter College. He became a bilingual teacher at IS 52 in the South Bronx. Several years later, he would go on to marry Bertha Martinez, the daughter of two of his teaching colleagues at the school. “I met him when I was 13 and he was 22,” said his wife, though her hus-band would not “let me catch him,” she said, until she turned 18. She is a retired public school teacher. Mr. Garcia served as District 8’s bilingual coordinator for middle schools and became an AP at PS 130 (Abram Stevens Hewitt). He retired as principal of the school in 2007. After a month away from work, he took a job at the Carl Icahn Charter School in the Bronx. He was working there as deputy superintendent of instruction at the time of his death, said his wife. “He wouldn’t ask anyone to do something he wouldn’t do,” said Mrs. Garcia. “And if a kid needed anything, Danny would open his wallet. He was a very giving man.”In addition to his wife of nearly 40 years, Mr. Garcia is survived by three sons — Daniel, Marc and Christopher; a brother, Glenn, and a grandson. n HAROLD KOBLINER, 90, died May 17. He lived in a Great Neck, NY. Raised in the Bronx by immigrant, Jewish parents who struggled during the Depression, Mr. Kobliner enrolled in the City College of NY at age 16, graduated with a degree in history, and earned a Ph.D. from NY University’s School of Education. He began teaching in NYC public schools in 1950, but was drafted into the Army and stationed at Fort Wadsworth on Staten Island, where he created a cooperative educational pro-gram between the base and the NYC Board of Education, and started language classes for non-English speakers as well as a counseling program to assist soldiers—some of whom were unable to read—with correspondence courses. These efforts led to a parade in his honor on Governors Island. Mr. Kobliner was the youngest assistant principal ever appoint-ed in NY at the time, he later became the principal of Marie Curie, JHS 158, in Queens. An advocate for students of all backgrounds and levels of ability, he was a pioneer in special education. One of his programs provided, for the first time, art, music, and foreign language classes to children with special needs; many of his programs were adopted as models for schools citywide. He put a high priority on community outreach, establishing alliances with the Interracial and Interfaith Council and the NAACP, and created community activities. He was later appointed Chairman of the Board of Examiners, an independent agency that oversaw the creation and implementation of tests for teachers and supervisors in NYC. Dr. Kobliner believed a school system needs excel-lent teachers in order to best educate children, and that teachers must have proficiency in the subjects they teach. About 12 years ago, he and his wife Shirley began collecting and cat-egorizing idioms and expressions—without using Google—in an effort to share their love of language with their grandchildren. Their book, So to Speak: 11,000 Expressions That’ll Knock Your Socks Off, is set to be published in December by Simon & Schuster. In 2012, he received CCNY’s distinguished Townsend Harris Medal, recognizing his lifetime of ded-ication, accomplishment, and advocacy in the New York City public school system. Dr. Kobliner was predeceased by his wife in 2016. He is survived by his three children, Kenneth, Perry, and Beth; his in-law children David and Miriam; and six grandchildren.n BARBARA PANZER, 85, of Monroe Township, NJ, died Sept. 3. Mrs. Panzer was born in the Crown Heights neighborhood

of Brooklyn and graduated from Samuel J. Tilden High School in East Flatbush, where she was a champion swimmer and diver. Mrs. Panzer met her husband of 63 years, Morton Panzer, while earning her bachelors degree at Brooklyn College, where she also was awarded a masters degree. (Mr. Panzer, also a retired AP, died June 15.) Mrs. Panzer began teaching fifth and sixth grades at PS 115 in Canarsie. She transferred to PS 279 when the school opened, where she served as head of the sci-ence cluster and became assistant principal of science. She retired in 1990. Mrs. Panzer also played an important role in District 18’s gifted and talented program, said her daughter, Dr. Ellen Panzer-Schwartz. Along with her hus-band, Mrs. Panzer co-founded the Canarsie Education Association and the Citizens to Elect Local School Boards. They also served as co-presidents of the B’Nai B’rith Schoolman’s Lodge in Brooklyn.The couple traveled exten-sively and Mrs. Panzer enjoyed knitting. “They did everything in their life together,” said Dr. Panzer-Schwartz. “We are very blessed with their love for each other and their love for us.” In addition to her daughter Ellen, she is sur-vived by another daughter, Susan Panzer, and three grandchildren. n JANE PASCAZIO 72, died Sept. 13. She lived on City Island in the Bronx, NY. Mrs. Pascazio was born in 1948 and grew up in the Belmont section of the Bronx. She graduated from Aquinas High School, earned a bachelor’s degree from Hunter College and two master’s degrees, said her husband, Anthony Pascazio. She began her career as a third-grade teacher at PS 45 in Belmont, where she had attended elementary school. After another teaching job in the Bronx, she went on to work as a guid-ance counselor in several schools in the South Bronx before taking a position in District 8 offices as a supervisor of pre-school special education. She retired in 2005. Mrs. Pascazio continued to do some per session work for the DOE after retiring, before joining a company that the DOE hired to assess the efficacy of pre-school special-education programs. Her first husband died in the early 1980s, and in 1985, she married Anthony Pascazio, a retired NYPD captain and a long-time friend. Mrs. Pascazio was active in the United Trinity Methodist Church on City Island. “She was also total-ly involved in our family,” said Mr. Pascazio, while also helping many children with special needs, often attending meetings on behalf of their families. She was among the founders of the Italian American Educators (FIAME), which was started in the Bronx and spread across NYC. The group aimed to encourage more Italian-Americans to take on supervisory roles in the DOE. “She was very proud of that,” said Mr. Pascazio. In addition to her husband of 35 years, Mrs. Pascazio is survived by her step-children, Anthony Pascazio and Luann Vanderpot; her sister, Joan Di’Salvatore; her niece and nephew, and four grandchildren.n PHYLLIS RUSSO, 78, died Sept. 3. She lived in Staten Island. Mrs. Russo was born in 1941 in Brooklyn, NY, and grew up in the Bay Ridge community. She graduated from Notre Dame Academy, a private girls school in the Grymes Hill neighborhood of Staten Island., and earned a bachelor’s degree from the for-mer Notre Dame College, also in Grymes Hill. Mrs. Russo also held a master’s degree. She began her career in the early 1960s as a French teacher at William McKinley JHS in Brooklyn’s District 20. She went on to serve as an assis-tant principal at McKinley before retiring in 1997. Mrs. Russo met her husband Joseph at a bowling alley in Brooklyn; the couple married in 1965. Her husband said they moved to the Prince’s Bay section of Staten Island’s South Shore in 1995. She was an avid reader who enjoyed crosswords, home decorating and treasured her family and friends. In addition to her husband of 55 years, she is survived by her son, Joseph P. Russo; a sister, Marilyn Marrone, and three brothers, Joseph, Paul and James Marrone.

Send obituary notices to CSA News Editor Chuck Wilbanks at chuck@csa-nyc.org.

In Memoriam

Moe Finkelstein

CSA NEWSOct. 2020 9

N A T I O N

Labor

Enhanced pay, instituted for some state employees early in the pandemic, was halted without notice recently. The pay, which provided an additional $3.13 per hour for employees such as police, correctional officers, and hospital employees and others considered 24/7 workers, and an additional $2 per hour for people working directly in coronavirus quarantine areas. The enhance-ment was costing the state $3.3 million per 2-week pay period. Though Response Pay has ended, workers in quarantine units such as prisons or state hospitals will continue to receive an additional $5.13 per hour. (Baltimore Sun)

MARYLAND

Enhanced Pay Ends

CALIFORNIA

Worker ProtectionsUnited Farm Workers is working to secure N95 masks for workers who are at risk, most recently, from smoke from the wild fires. While legislation was passed to mandate growers provide N95 masks or the equivalent when the Air Quality Index is over 150, it’s been found that, in fact, 84 percent of farm workers have not received them. UFW has been crit-ical of Cal/OSHA’s failure to protect workers and has reportedly secured 50,000 masks to distribute itself. (United Farm Workers)

NYC school cafeteria workers, who have provided some 100 million grab and go lunches since March, sounded alarm bells earlier in the year concern-ing working conditions. Many work in hot kitchens, without windows, no air conditioning or proper ventilation. The pan-demic has not improved the situation and many workers fear both the return of students to school buildings, as well as potential budget cuts. District Council 37, that represents 23,000 workers, including 9,000 cafeteria workers, said kitchen areas should be prioritized in school ventilation checks. The Department of Education indi-cated school kitchens are being included in their inspections and ventilation reports. (PIX11)

— Compiled by Christine AltmAn

NEW YORK

Kitchen Safety

The Greater Lynchburg Transit Company has come under fire for not providing enough protec-tions for its workers and custom-ers. The bus company has been accused of not reporting positive cases to the union and for a lack of proper cleaning procedures. The union representing the work-ers is calling for hazard pay for its workers, who are considered essential workers. The company has experienced work shortages and a number of workers have been quarantined. (WDBJ7)

VIRGINIA

Driver Rally

The Welfare FundEnsuring Coverage And Reimbursements

Dr. Douglas V. Hathaway

Question: I am a retired high school principal who has the GHI Senior Care plan as my Medicare supple-ment. I started receiving bills from

my doctors in mid-August saying I owed what Medicare did not pay. This has never hap-pened before. What changed? What did I do (or did not do)?

ANSWER: This is not due to anything you did. On July 1, both Empire Blue Cross and Emblem Health (parent of GHI) implemented new computer platforms, including new ID numbers for all participants, that were in development and planned for implementation long before the pandemic. It seems that when Empire sent the new ID numbers to Medicare it indicated they were supplemental for both hospitals (which they are) and medical (which is GHI’s responsibility). As a result, when Medicare sent the crossover implementation, the claims that should have gone to GHI went to Empire, who properly denied them since they do not provide that coverage. We are told the problem has been resolved and that Emblem is reprocessing over 50,000 claims that were processed incorrectly. If you con-tinue to get these notices after October, please let me know and we will expedite getting them paid correctly by Emblem.

Question: I’m a newly appointed AP. I recently received a bill from the UFT Welfare Fund for prescriptions purchased July 5. Can you help me?

ANSWER: Sure. When you change posi-tions from teacher to a supervisory position, it takes the DOE a few weeks (hopefully) to switch your records from a teacher payroll line to a supervisory line. We receive a report from the DOE at the end of Sept., which we use to determine eligibility. We have an agree-ment with the UFT Welfare Fund to reimburse expenses incurred by our members in the tran-sition from UFT to CSA. Please send us a copy of the UFT letter and we will reimburse the UFT the amount we would have paid for your med-ications. We’ll send you a copy of the check we send the UFT, and you’ll be responsible for paying the UFT the difference between the amount they billed and the amount we paid. This reciprocal agreement works for dental procedures, as well as for the (rare) case when a supervisor reverts to a teaching position, in which case we bill the UFT for any benefits you used before the UFT restored your coverage.

Dr. Douglas V. Hathaway is CSA Welfare Fund Administrator. You can email him at dhatha-way@csa-nyc.org.

Please read this notice carefully and keep it where you can find it. This notice has information about your current prescription drug coverage with the CSA Welfare Fund and about your options under Medicare’s prescription drug coverage. This information can help you decide whether or not you want to join a Medicare drug plan. If you are considering joining, you should compare your current coverage, including which drugs are covered at what cost, with the coverage and costs of the plans offering Medicare prescription drug coverage in your area. Information about where you can get help to make decisions about your prescription drug coverage is at the end of this notice.

There are two important things you need to know about your current coverage and Medicare’s prescription drug coverage:1. Medicare prescription drug coverage became available in

2006 to everyone with Medicare. You can get this cover-age if you join a Medicare Prescription Drug Plan or join a Medicare Advantage Plan (like an HMO or PPO) that offers prescription drug coverage. All Medicare drug plans provide at least a standard level of coverage set by Medicare. Some plans may also offer more coverage for a higher monthly premium.

2. CSA Welfare Fund has determined that the prescription drug coverage offered by the CSA Welfare Fund is, on average for all plan participants, expected to pay out as much as stan-dard Medicare prescription drug coverage pays and is there-fore considered Creditable Coverage. Because your existing coverage is Creditable Coverage, you can keep this coverage and not pay a higher premium (a penalty) if you later decide to join a Medicare drug plan.

When Can You Join A Medicare Drug Plan?You can join a Medicare drug plan when you first become

eligible for Medicare and each year from Oct. 15 to Dec. 7. However, if you lose your current creditable prescription drug coverage, through no fault of your own, you will also be eligi-ble for a two (2) month Special Enrollment Period (SEP) to join a Medicare drug plan.

What Happens To Your Current Coverage?If you decide to join a Medicare drug plan, your current CSA

Welfare Fund will not be affected. If you do decide to join a Medicare drug plan and drop your current CSA Welfare Fund, be aware that you and your dependents will be able to get this coverage back.

Will You Pay A Higher Premium (Penalty)?

You should also know that if you drop or lose your current coverage with the CSA Welfare Fund and don’t join a Medicare drug plan within 63 continuous days after your current cover-age ends, you may pay a higher premium (a penalty) to join a Medicare drug plan later.

If you go 63 continuous days or longer without creditable prescription drug coverage, your monthly premium may go up by at least 1% of the Medicare base beneficiary premium per month for every month that you did not have that cover-age. For example, if you go nineteen months without credit-able coverage, your premium may consistently be at least 19% higher than the Medicare base beneficiary premium. You may have to pay this higher premium (a penalty) as long as you have Medicare prescription drug coverage. In addition, you may have to wait until the following October to join.

For More Info About This Notice Or CoverageContact the person listed below for further information

NOTE: You’ll get this notice each year. You will also get it before the next period you can join a Medicare drug plan, and if this coverage through the CSA Welfare Fund changes. You also may request a copy of this notice at any time.

For More Information About Medicare Options More detailed information about Medicare plans that offer

prescription drug coverage is in the “Medicare & You” hand-book. You’ll get a copy of the handbook in the mail every year from Medicare. You may also be contacted directly by Medicare drug plans. For more information about Medicare prescription drug coverage: Visit www.medicare.gov

Call your State Health Insurance Assistance Program (see the inside back cover of your copy of the “Medicare & You” handbook for their telephone number) for personalized help. Call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227). TTY users should call 1-877-486-2048. If you have limited income and resources, extra help paying for Medicare prescription drug coverage is available. For information about this extra help, visit Social Security on the web at www.socialsecurity.gov, or call them at 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778).

Remember: Keep this Creditable Coverage notice. If you decide to join one of the Medicare drug plans, you may be required to provide a copy of this notice when you join to show whether or not you have maintained creditable coverage and, therefore, whether or not you are required to pay a higher premium (a penalty).

Important Notice from CSA Welfare Fund AboutYour Prescription Drug Coverage and Medicare

• • •

Computer Program Snafu For Emblem, Blue Cross Solved

CSA NEWS Oct. 202010

Get Out The Vote!

CHAIR’S MESSAGEGayle Lockett

C h a p t e r

Since a survey showed 80 percent of membership in favor of endorsing Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, CSA officially endorsed the

Biden/Harris ticket. At a September Political Action

Committee meeting, unit leaders and liaisons from Arizona, Georgia, Virginia and Florida shared the status of candidates, what is being done in their counties and states, and what still needs to be done. Our retirees are diligently working

to inform voters of the Biden/Harris platform and to get people to vote. Through our PAC, CSA is working earnestly to get eligible voters to vote early, encouraging voters who receive a mail-in ballot to carefully fill it out and mail or drop it off at the designated location.

This year’s presidential election is extremely important. It has been said, “Vote like your life depends on it.” If you are able to help get out the vote, our CSA Political Affairs division asks retirees to sign up for one or more virtual phone banks using the toolkits listed below or through other local organizations.

• Battleground State Phone Bank Toolkit: https://www.mobilize.us/2020victory/event/291103/

• New York for Biden/Harris Toolkit: https://newyorkfor-biden2020.com

• Biden/Harris Fact Sheet Toolkit: http://joe.link/BuyAmericaFactSheet

For those with difficulties phone banking, please con-tact either Assistant Director of Political Affairs Herman Merritt (Herman@csa-nyc.org) or RC Legislative Liaison Mitra Lutchman (Mitra@csa-nyc.org) for assistance. You may also contact the political team at politicalaffairs@csa-nyc.org with questions or concerns or contacting your unit leader or political liaison. To join or increase your PAC contribution, email the addresses above or Mark Brodsky at mark@csa-nyc.org. Finally, as your RC Chairperson, I reit-erate the importance of joining our PAC. Please see Retiree Chapter Director Mark Brodsky’s thorough description of the PAC and how to help on page 11.

Although we are continuing with virtual media indef-initely, we still are holding monthly RC Advisory and RC Executive Board meetings. This month our

Charity Committee will discuss donating to the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation. We are going to con-tinue supporting the CSA Scholarship Fund and ask the regional units and individuals continue donating to this worthy scholarship too. The CSA Scholarship Fund recog-nizes college bound seniors demonstrating perseverance in staying in school and potential leadership. Individuals can make a tax deductible (501 C3) contribution by sending a check made out to CSA Scholarship Fund and mail it to CSA RC, 40 Rector Street St., 12th Floor, NY, NY 10006. Thank you for your continued support for our future leaders.

Looking forward to seeing you at a virtual meeting. Be well and stay safe.

In Unity,Gayle Lockett

A Bronx Family’s Honor And Legacy

BY DEE-DEE GOIDEL

Mayor John Lindsey’s administration established green spaces that were carved out of patches of unused land in all five boroughs. These “vest pocket” parks varied widely:

Some had centuries old native trees; others had to be landscaped. They were sometimes nestled between buildings, thus providing a place to rest or simply a place to meet a friend out of doors, and were most often named in honor of war heroes or elected officials.

One of these parks in the Bronx caught my interest since it is named for Phyllis Post Goodman, late wife of Marvin Goodman, one of the CSA RC Executive Board member icons and co-chair of CSA’s Legacy Committee. Phyllis Goodman spent her entire career as a school-teacher in Washington Heights. She received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from City College. As a mother, she found time to be active in parent associations, most times in a leadership capac-ity. She was always interested in being ethnically inclusive. She was instrumental in initiating the first multicultural fair at PS 24 in The Bronx. In the process, she involved large numbers of Japanese-American residents in the life of the school.

In the early 1970’s, Mrs. Goodman partici-pated in the march to preserve the land for an educational park at West 230th Street, where John F. Kennedy High School and PS 37 now stands. She was appointed to Community Board 8 and served in that position for 25 years until her death in 1995. Her community interests were boundless. She was involved in education, library services and preserving parklands and greenery. She volunteered her time in the Gilda Radner Club and SHARE, two educational advocacy and support groups for women with cancer, their families and friends.

In 1994, Mrs. Goodman was invited to speak to the entering class at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. During her talk, she stressed the

importance of viewing a patient as a “whole per-son,” not just a collection of symptoms. After learning about her varied expansive commitment to her family, community and future generations, it is quite apparent why the community and city broke with its naming traditions by naming a park for this special woman.

An Aug. 8, 1996 edition of the Riverdale Review, called the event “both a dedication and a re-discovery of a park that practically disappeared for some years.” The paper noted that Geraldine Thorsten, a Community Board 8 member, noti-fied Councilwoman June Eisland about a quiet piece of greenery,” and Ms. Eisland guided the process by bringing the idea to the attention of Parks Commissioner, Henry Stern. She continued to pursue the matter until the City Council voted for the proposal and Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani approved the legislation.

The small park, located at the intersection of Kappock Street and the Henry Hudson Parkway and forgotten for decades, received

a complete face-lift. Thousands of flowers, plants and bushes were planted, walkways were repaved and a bird bath was installed, making the park a special tribute to Phyllis Post Goodman. On behalf of his family, Marvin Goodman publicly acknowl-edged the efforts of Councilwoman Eisland for sponsoring the naming of the mini-park after his wife and for guiding the process step by step.

Mr. Goodman invited the community to enjoy the Park named in tribute to his wife. Her family and friends recently held a Zoom com-memoration in the park notating the 25th anni-versary of her death. Since he had always been supportive of his wife’s service to Community Board 8, he was nominated to serve in her place, a position he still holds twenty-five years later.

Dee-Dee Goidel was a former CSA RC officer, founder of the RC Regional Units, former RC legisla-tive liaison and current RC Executive Board member.

• • •

GREEN SPACES

n Family and local politicians attended the July 1996 ceremony to dedicate a NYC public park to the memory of Phyllis Post Goodman, former teacher and wife of late CSA Executive Board member Marvin Goodman.

• • •

RETIREE

CSA NEWSOct. 2020

RC Regional Units

Our executive board and I would like to thank all of our members for their sup-port. I will continue to keep you informed of all important information and events via email as well as the U.S.P.S. for those of you who requested this method. Kindly note that we are beginning to collect mate-rial for our winter newsletter that will be published in Jan., 2021. Suggestions and submissions are welcomed. Contact me at LoHudCSA@aol.com or LoHudCSARC@gmail.com. We would like to wish every-one a happy holiday season. Stay safe!

— Janice imundi

LOWER HUDSON VALLEY

We have been in touch with our members by email and by phone to answer specific questions regarding welfare benefits. In addition, we have emailed our members regarding the importance of the upcoming election in November. We have emphasized that EVERY VOTE COUNTS. Arizona is an important state this year with a con-tentious senatorial race in addition to the presidential race. The annual CSA meeting will be conducted via Zoom in November. Virtual Zoom classes are offered and members can register via email at retireeclasses@csa-nyc.org. We wish all our members good health.

—Stef thier and dom nigro

SOUTHWESTTake a moment to give yourself a pat

on the back. You deserve it! Where have the last 7 months gone? Into the Twilight Zone! As you are reading this, I hope you and your loved ones are all safe and well. The Suncoast Retiree Chapter streamed our first informational Zoom meeting on Sept. 24. It was well-attended and very appreciated. We heard from Norm Sherman, Gayle Lockett, Mark Brodsky, Dr. Doug Hathaway and our president, Mark Cannizzaro. I received wonderful feedback from our members, especially the daughter of one of our retirees who resides in an assisted living residence. She told me that her mom was able to watch the meeting and feel gratefully connected to all of us. Until things return to the new normal, Zoom meetings will be our way to get-together and catch up on import-ant issues. Meanwhile, if you are a retiree who lives on the West coast of Florida from Naples up to Tarpon Springs please contact me and join our chapter! Stay safe and healthy, sending virtual hugs. Any concerns, do not hesitate to contact me, cindysal6687@gmail.com or (646) 387-2652.

— cindy Salamone

SUNCOAST

In my most recent letter to you, I stated that all of our in-person activities that were scheduled for the 2020-2021 season had to be cancelled because of the Covid 19 pandemic. On Oct. 14, we held our annual Medicare workshop on Zoom, presented by Norman Sherman. (Thank you, Norman, for a wonderful presentation. Our Jan. 11, 2021, our health and welfare meeting will also be held on Zoom. Many of CSA’s executive board members will drop in to say a few words and Dr. Doug Hathaway will make his presentation. You will receive an invitation prior to the meeting. You can attend the meeting on your smart-phone, tablet or computer. You must download the Zoom app. Please visit our newly designed website, created by Mark Jacoby. Here you can download forms, the latest newsletter and other pertinent information. The website address is: www.csasouthflorida.com. Please stay well.

— loiS turetzky

SOUTHEAST FLORIDA

Thank you to all the members who attended our very first Zoom meeting in September. It was a great success! Our next meeting is planned for Dec. 15, 11 am. Mark Brodsky has already sent the invita-tion to you by email. Our speaker will be Gary Goldstein, director of the CSA Travel Desk. Gary will speak about the safety pre-cautions to take when traveling by plane, train, cruise line or car. You will receive important information from Gary so be sure to attend. My executive board and I want to give a shout out to Herbert Tillem, who served as secretary for over 15 years for CSA’s NJ Unit and has resigned from his position. He was the best secretary ever and will be sorely missed. Not only was he conscientious and efficient, but above all, a gentlemen. Good luck to you, Herb!

—lucille Vecchiarelli

CENTRAL NEW JERSEY

BY LUCIE ELIO

The CSA Retiree Chapter is once again offering the following virtual classes and lectures to CSA RC members, at no charge. To register for any of the classes, email Retireeclasses@csa-nyc.org and list the presentation(s) you would like. Please include: the class or lecture’s title, your name, your email and phone number.

CSA Virtual Program Via Zoom

11

CSA’s Nov. Program via Zoom Time: 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm EST Books and Bagels Book Club – 11/5 Intro to Twitter and Instagram – 11/9 Barbra Streisand – 11/12 Broadway Musicals – 11/16 Tenement Museum – 11/19 Art Deco – 11/24

Weekly Classes via Zoom Beginner Bridge 11/4 - 10:30 pm – 12:00 pm EST Beginner Crochet1/5; 11/12- 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm EST

Activism, Updates, Our PAC, More...

BY MARK BRODSKY

We have come a long way, in the 16 years since the transition from the RSSA into the CSA Retiree Chapter. It is almost

miraculous since former President Jill Levy and her team came up with this concept, which was then followed up, nourished, and sustained by former President Ernest Logan and taken to another level by President Mark Cannizzaro and his team. CSA’s retirees are indebted to these for-ward-thinking leaders who have provided continuing support in ensuring our hard-earned benefits are not only continuing but also improving.

We work hand in hand with our in-ser-vice brothers and sisters, speaking to and lobbying our city and state elected offi-cials to ensure our issues and concerns are made known. The political arena serves as our base that enables us to support those elected officials who support us and the issues that are so important to us as retir-ees as well as those who now walk in our shoes.

Our activism beat back the NYS Constitutional Convention two years ago and it helps in continuing the extraordi-nary interest rate we get with those who have a TDA, among other issues.

Many of you have seen fit to contrib-ute to our Political Action Committee to assure we have the funds to do battle. To those of you who have not yet con-tributed, we are making a special appeal so that we can continue with maximum efforts on your behalf.

PAC contributions are limited to volun-tary donations, as it is prohibited to utilize members’ dues for political use. As a result, we are reaching out to you to encourage participation.

Hopefully, you have heard of the President’s Club. By contributing at least $8 a month ($96 per annum) you will become a member of our prestigious group of contributors who receive a spe-cial gift and invitations to special events. You can also write a check, on an annual basis, made out to CSARC PAC.

Visit our website and you can down-load and return the PAC check off card. Your contribution of $2, $4 or more per pension check is the best insurance invest-ment you can make to ensure we stay active in the political arena to advocate for our benefits as retirees.

We want to thank the 276 new PAC members who signed up recently, 105 of whom joined the President’s Club).

IRMAA The Office of Labor Relations is still

closed and working remotely. Anything that was mailed in, rather than submitted via email, will be addressed when the office reopens. We will let you know as soon as it reopens.

As of now, IRMAA (income-related monthly adjustment amount) is still on time to be deposited in October.

Differentials, for those not filing for IRMAA, are still expected to be reimbursed in March 2021. The differential for 2019 is up to $318.

TRS Pension COLA If you noticed a very few dollars more

in your October pension payment, it is because you probably received a cost of living adjustment.

The COLA is based on 50% of the increase in the CPI from year to year (March to March). The annual increase is based on your pension if it is less than $18,000 per year, or on the first $18,000 of your pension per year.

Based on current CPI figures, the September 2020 COLA is 1 percent. The benefit is paid to:

• Retirees who have reached age 55 and have been retired for at least 10 years; or

• Retirees who have reached 62 and have been retired for at least five years; or

• Retirees who have retired for disabil-ity and have been retired for at least five years; as well as

• Spouses of certain deceased retiree collecting benefits under joint and survi-vor option.

CSA Scholarship Each year, CSA awards scholarships to

NYC public high school college-bound seniors who have shown leadership potential in school and/or in their com-munity and have overcome hardships to reach graduation. When we launched the scholarship fund, it was decided from the start that we would consider each appli-cant’s character rather than their GPA. A school supervisor must recommend the student, and a committee of active and inactive CSA members review all applica-tions (inclusive of three essays) to select one student per borough.

Your donation will afford these stu-dents the opportunity to pursue their dreams and ensure the fund’s future suc-cess so that we can continue to provide this financial support to promising stu-dents year after year.

To make a tax deductible (501 C3) con-tribution – you can send a check made out to CSA Scholarship Fund and mail it to CSA RC - 40 Rector St., 12th Floor – NY NY 10006

Retroactive Payment All DOE members who retired on

or after April 23, 2019, should have received a retroactive payment by the end of August, 2020 or the beginning of September. Most of our retirees received this payment. If you did not get it, please send your name and file number to Mark@csa-nyc.org. Note that TRS will be notified of this salary increase and that your pension will be recalculated.

DOE Email AddressOnce you retire or leave service – the

DOE is under no obligation to continue to provide you with your DOE email address. The DOE may take it away the day you leave or years after, but they will take it away, and without warning. Do not use it for any private or personal communica-tion. If there are people you want to com-municate with after you leave service, get their personal email address and give them yours. The DOE email address belongs to the City of New York– not to you.

OC

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02

0 Periodicals

US POSTAGE PAID ATBrooklyn, NY 11201and Additional Mailing Office

Council of School Supervisors & Administrators, NYCNew York State Federation of School AdministratorsLocal 1 AFSA, AFL-CIO40 Rector St., NY, NY 10006

Printed on FSC certified paper

He remained in an induced coma for more than 60 days. During that period he survived three cases of double pneu-monia and became infected with meth-icillin resistant staphylococcus aureus, the deadly bacterial infection known as MRSA. Because of muscle and nerve breakdown, he had lost his ability to walk or indeed move much at all. And, since the infections made it impossible for surgeons to perform a tracheotomy, the constant pressure of the respirator’s tube down his throat permanently dam-aged his right vocal cord. All told, he was in a hospital and rehab center for 109 days and on a ventilator for 65.

Yet Mr. Lord survived, a feat he credits to excellent care, support, and prayers said on his behalf. Now, with physical therapy, he is more mobile by the day. “I can walk, talk, shower, make food,” he said in a recent interview. “The only thing I can’t do is open a water bottle because they’re so small.” Other things will never be quite the same, though. “You know the voice you would use in the lunchroom when somebody wasn’t getting the message? Well, that’s gone. This is as loud as I can speak.” Still, he quickly resumed a joy-ful life. For example, when his daughter married on Aug. 22, “I was able to walk her down the aisle for the nine people who were there.”

Various New York media outlets cov-ered Mr. Lord’s “medical miracle” as well as his retirement from the DOE while he was hospitalized. Not so fully explored was how the medical profession had in many ways given up on him, the dra-matic and urgent nature of his retire-ment, and the lifeline his wife found in CSA during the darkest months of the pandemic.

Mr. Lord is thankful for his medical care, but he isn’t sentimental. “On the forty-first day, doctors stated I had no higher brain function and they wanted my wife to sign a do not resuscitate order,” Mr. Lord said. “They wanted to walk away and be done with me. She looked at them and said, ‘Don’t even think about it.’”

At that moment, Mrs. Lord, a retired teacher, realized she was faced with not only the loss of her husband of 38 years,

but financial catastrophe as well. Had he died, she would have received three years’ of his salary, and that would be it. One of their two adult children, a mil-itary veteran with a disability, relies on them. “Every day, they didn’t think he was going to survive the day,” she said. “If he wasn’t retired, there would be no pension. Then it became clear that if he did survive, he wouldn’t be able to go back anyway. So I needed to retire him.”

The COVID shutdown created a huge barrier to that. Just reaching anyone by phone was difficult. Even accomplishing the first step – a power of attorney that would give her the legal authority to file documents on his behalf, seemed a dis-tant prospect given that the courts were closed. Teachers Retirement Service was shut down.

“You can’t retire someone by email,” said Mrs. Lord.

S h e r e a c h e d o u t t o R u s s e l l Lieberman, CSA’s district chair in the southern district of Brooklyn. Mr. Lieberman quickly alerted CSA leader-ship to Mrs. Lord’s situation. “In a half hour, Mark Cannizzaro called me back,”

she said. Mr. Cannizzaro enlisted the help of CSA Retiree Chapter Director Mark Brodsky, CSA Welfare Fund Director Douglas Hathaway, and CSA pension consultant Jonathan Kimmel, who metic-ulously guided her through the retirement process.

“They walked me through everything – insurance, health care, setting up the pension,” she said. “I’m a teacher – I don’t know of any DOE employee who can do this on their own. This was new to me, different than my own retirement. It was very important that it be done properly, so if Larry did pass, I could stay in the house with my children. CSA really is so supportive of their members and their families. Everyone was so helpful to me, at a time when I really needed that help.”

Mr. Lord, awakening to learn the news, had no doubts that his wife did the right

thing. “She would have lost the house,” he said. “I’ve heard of horrible situa-tions. CSA worked overtime and tire-lessly to make sure this didn’t happen. Mark and Mark (Mark Cannizzaro and Mark Brodsky) had to get the paperwork, get it to my wife, make sure it was hand delivered and filed, make sure every “I” was dotted and “T” was crossed. The documents had to go to the top of the pile. It had to be dealt with fast because every day I was on the verge of dying. We had to get a lawyer to get my wife power of attorney to retire me, as well as a judge and stenographer in Staten Island. They were racing against the clock. It would have been a disaster. They busted their asses to make sure everything went through.”

His official retirement was on May 7. Mr. Lord was a famously involved

principal, from greeting his students by name to making sure, with his own hands, that the school’s smartboards worked. What, besides therapy and enjoying a remarkable opportunity to continue enjoying life, is the man once

dubbed ‘Superman” by his students now doing with his time?

“He’s advising me on supplies,” said Nicola Grant, interim acting principal of PS 235, a middle school of 1200 students located in three sites. “He’s letting me know what worked well and what wasn’t so great. He also helps me with technol-ogy – repairing the computers, smart boards…all through text messaging and phone calls. Staff and parents call him any time. He was our tech person. And our bagel guy. He is very committed to his work. We talk just about every day. He’s retired only on paper.”

Ms. Grant’s acquaintance with Mr. Lord goes back two decades. “I’ve known him since 2001 when I was hired as a teacher and he was an AP,” she said. “I went to another school as a math coach, but we still stayed in contact. He has always been child-centered: When I first saw him here, he had a trail of kids fol-lowing him. If parents were late picking up their kids, he would pop in a movie for them. He would get down on the floor and have a conversation with them.

He’s watched them grow up and go to college and come back. We’re very particular – the children of our former students come here – we’re a genera-tional school. We have teachers who were students here. And he has that his-torical memory.”

Mr. Lord said that depth of the school’s culture made for constructive relations between CSA and UFT, such that he and the chapter leader would quietly hash out problems before they festered. It’s a place where the staff doesn’t need micromanaging, he said, where seasoned teachers take neophytes under their wing, and where the com-munity’s working-class parents are deeply involved.

“I truly loved my job,” he said. “I had no intention of retiring for another three years.

It’s very, very strange now, not hav-ing the life of a principal rolling around in my head.

Helping the school out now is a labor of love,” he said. This was my baby for 20 years. If I can help the new princi-pal with all the craziness going on with scheduling and all the rest, that’s my pleasure.”

In Dark Time, Union’s Tireless Work Continued from Page 1

n ‘Medical Miracle’ Principal Larry Lord of PS 235, Brooklyn was on a ventilator for 65 days.