Race, Class, and Punishment

Demographics

Castillero Middle School in San Jose, California, offers a unique experience for the 6^th-8^th grade students. Students have the choice of learning or mastering an elective in band, choir, orchestra, drama, and even digital photography. This opportunity is open to students both in the direct neighborhood, and those that travel a longer way by bus. As a result, we serve a diverse population at Castillero that includes a majority Hispanic or Latino (33.6%) and White (38.6%), Asian (16%), two or more races (5.7%), Filipino (2.3%), African American (2.1%), and American Indian or Alaska Native (0.2%).² Of those students, (33%) are qualified as low socioeconomic and (12%) are English Learners.³ There is a disparity among the data represented in the demographics for discipline. The 2016-2017 data of the rate of suspensions among students by race is Hispanic or Latino (58%), White (26.1%), two or more races (4.3%), Asian (8.7%), Filipino (2.9%), and African American (0.0%). Last year, one of our school wide goals was to improve the test scores in Language Arts and Math, particularly for the sub groups that include English Learners. If this is our goal, we need to start questioning why students, especially Hispanic and Latino, are being suspended at a much higher rate than their population represents. This was one of the main inspirations for me to create this unit. I feel that this unit will not only deepen the understanding of the Social Studies content, but also challenge students to critically analyze our school wide discipline system, explore why students misbehave, and hopefully alleviate the rate of suspensions and discipline issues through restorative justice.