Obituary: Jeffrey Rozran, 65, SHS Teacher, Union President

Beloved English teacher and Syosset Teachers' Union president, Jeffrey Rozran, died Saturday of lung cancer, reported Newsday. He was 65.

Coming from an educating family, Rozran became a third generation educator who spent almost every day of his 37-year-long career at 70 Southwoods Road. In the classroom, he brought classics to life. Out of the classroom, he fought for the rights of teachers in Syosset and across New York State as President of the Syosset Teachers' Union and Director of New York State United Teachers (NYSUT).

Recently, Rozran, a defender of the rights of teachers, that requires 20 percent of a teacher's evaluation to be based on students' standardized test scores.

"The whole thing has moved too fast…it needed to be piloted and done right," said Rozran, criticizing the speed of the legislation.

"It would be very sad to identify good teachers as bad ones and bad teachers as good ones," he continued thoughtfully.

In his very last Long Island Education blog post, Rozran told readers that admired teachers gain much of their recognition out of the classroom.

"[Parents] simply judge [teachers] based on grades they give, the joy their children experience in class, how exactly the teacher does what the parent wants them to, and other such matters relatively unrelated to the actual practice of teaching.

Wrapping up the blog with a history lesson, his final words in the post were: "At the end of the day, let’s remember that they gave Socrates poison because he was seen as a bad influence on his students."

Rozran is survived by wife Luanne, stepdaughter April Kaufman, and sisters Marcia Turbiner and Ellen Matis, said Newsday.

Funeral services will be held at Gutterman's Funeral Home in Woodbury beginning at 2 p.m. Tuesday. Shiva will be held at Rozran's Commack home Tuesday evening, Wednesday afternoon, and Thursday morning, said Newsday.