Chico teacher speaks about state disciplinary pressures

Sue Campbell, teacher at Marsh Junior High School in Chico.

Sometimes teachers feel powerless when it comes to helping children while also following state or administrative rules. 

Sue Campbell, who has been a teacher for 35 years, would know.

Campbell works at Chico Unified School District's Marsh Junior High School, which houses programs for severely handicapped and emotionally disturbed children and the special education Resource Specialist Program. She teaches elective classes in food, textiles and architecture, which are often a melting pot of students of different abilities and disabilities, being electives. 

Schools are constantly getting compared to each other and their districts. And when the state tells the schools, for example, that suspension and expulsion numbers need to drop and apply those same requirements to every school in the district, it can be frustrating for teachers, Campbell said. 

“I think it's hard to say, 'Oh, you have to keep it to this number,' because it's really not realistic. It depends on what you're dealing with that year and how many special needs programs you have at that school," she said. "If you compare one school that has five special needs programs and one that only has one, that wouldn't be an accurate comparison.”

And it is frustrating for teachers, who have the closest and most frequent interactions with the children they teach, when they are forced to follow guidelines that don't make sense to them, she said. These guidelines about suspension, discipline or other programs are just a series of boxes that need to be checked off for school administrative and state approval.  

"I think district offices and administrators get handed these boxes from the state, and their job is to make sure we handle these boxes," she said. "And our job is human beings, children. They're not little boxes."

Campbell suggested that states get more involved with teachers, not just administrators, via teacher organizations. Teachers have a lot of input about these guidelines and issues that isn't being heard at the federal level. 

CUSD employee, parent offers guidance through personal experience with expulsion

Sharyn Fields, Office Manager for the Office of Suspension and Expulsion Review in CUSD

When Sharyn Fields' daughter was expelled years ago, she had no idea what to do. 

"I felt really scared and alone when it happened with us," she said, "because I didn't know how to help my daughter." 

Fields scoured the Chico area for programs that could help her daughter cope with the pain, like counseling and rehabilitation. The whole process was difficult, she said, because Chico doesn't offer many of those programs. 

"That was really hard, but it turned out great," Fields said, "and I have a lot of experience finding resources for teens."

Later, that experience helped Fields help other parents and their children. Fields is now the office manager for Chico Unified School District's Office of Suspension and Expulsion Review, a district-wide disciplinary reporting office housed at Academy For Change. 

Sometimes she has parents ask her about what they can do to help their child that has been expelled or suspended, she said. That's when she's able to provide them with those resources and let them know they are not alone: she's been where they are now.  

"I tell parents, 'Hey, I've been sitting where you are.' And I think it makes them feel better," she said. "I think parents feel like its their fault when things happen with their child." 

Not every district has a place like Fair View High School or Academy for Change, Fields said. In some districts when kids get expelled it's "you're gone, good luck." 

"(Our schools are) really good at using suspension and expulsion for getting kids back on track," she said. "We're really trying to help these kids."