Turnaround for Dewey on hold

Despite the city Department of Education’s hard push, John Dewey High School may yet escape the city’s turnaround plans.

Three weeks ago, an arbitrator reversed DOE plans to turn around 24 public schools by firing the teaching staff and making them reapply for their jobs in a reform process designed to re-brand the schools as “new,” therefore qualifying them for millions of dollars in federal School Improvement Grants.

The Panel for Educational Policy had voted to approve turnaround for Dewey and the other schools back in April, in accordance with DOE’s wishes, despite an angry outcry from students, parents and staff. Several other schools initially proposed for turnaround had been removed from the list prior to the vote.

The surprise ruling was made on the grounds that the DOE violated collective bargaining agreements with the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) by canning the teaching and administrative staffs.

Since then, teachers who had interviewed for new positions are being told that they can reclaim their old jobs, but have no idea how. If they received an offer at another school, then they have to decide which position to take. However, the DOE has appealed the ruling and a decision on the appeal is expected on Tuesday, July 24.

For the Dewey community – which the DOE wants to become the Shorefront High School of Arts and Sciences at John Dewey Campus community – the only result from the latest turn of events is extreme confusion for teachers, parents and incoming students who have no idea what school they will be attending in September, who will be teaching them, or even what kind of curriculum they will have.

“What nobody knows yet is whether Dewey is Dewey next year or if it will be Shorefront,” said Teri Brennan, who graduated from the school in 1981. “Nobody knows whether the plan to divide the kids into five [academic] houses is still happening. Teachers don’t know what they’re teaching. It’s just one big mess.”

“All of this is unsettling on every level, for teachers and students,” added a Dewey teacher who wished to remain anonymous because of intentions to return to the school this autumn. “Teachers are left with a disgusted feeling. We’re still emotionally traumatized by the whole thing… Students were victimized, going around feeling terrible about what happened. Everybody doesn’t feel like justice and common decency is in place here.”

Such confusion and demoralization stems from years of uncertainty that took the school from being on a closure list to being given a chance to improve over three years – in a process called “restart” – and then, six months later, being told that restart wasn’t working, so the school would be closed and reopened with new staff, a new curriculum and new name.

“I think everyone’s waiting to see what happens on the 24^th