In 2005, the movie "Coach Carter" was released telling the story of a high school basketball coach benching his whole team when they didn't meet academic standards, and what it took to meet those standards. Where this episode differs is aside from not meeting academic standards, meeting those standards are also tied to the funding the schools receive due to the "No Child Left Behind" initiative.
Michael Beach (Coach Carr) went on to play the father of Travis Makin, Jr. (Lewis Rivers) on The Rookie. Beach's character on The Rookie is analogous to Mary McDonnell's on The Closer (head of Internal Affairs).