Americans recoil at “discrimination.” The word connotes exclusion for not just superficial, but also hateful reasons, which Americans experienced for decades in the form of racial segregation — often government-mandated — from schools to lunch counters. This shameful history is no doubt why Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos set off a firestorm recently when she refused to say that she would prohibit potential federal vouchers from going to private schools that don’t accept all comers.

But we should not let our immediate, understandable feelings keep us from asking: Might there be acceptable, perhaps even good, reasons that schools would not work with some people?