Background In the United States, disparities in both access to educational opportunities and in educational outcomes are denying millions of students their right to quality education based on race, poverty, sexual orientation, gender and other factors. There is extensive research showing that students of color, particularly Black and Latino students, students with disabilities, LGBTQ students and other vulnerable populations, such as students in foster care, court-involved youth and students who are homeless, face disproportionately harsh and exclusionary discipline.173 Black students are 3.5 times more likely to be expelled and Latino students are 2 times more likely to be expelled, than white students.174 Students with disabilities are 2 times more likely to be suspended and expelled than general education students.175 These children and young people suffer significant disparities in access to educational programs and services and in the disproportionate impact of school pushout and punitive disciplinary action. Such discrimination may take the form of either policies that intentionally discriminate or policies that have a disparate and negative impact on groups that have faced, or continue to face, discrimination. It is crucial that the standard of discrimination employed by our educational system include discrimination that results in disparate impact. This ensures our school systems are attuned to factors that create unequal and unnecessary obstacles to student development which are powerful and pervasive yet often undetected because they are entrenched in systemic discrimination. That sensitivity, in turn, points to the need to address such underlying conditions. Furthermore, discrimination based on disparate impact can be regularly and effectively identified and monitored through statistics, empirical studies and anecdotal data.176