Ian’s friend is currently taking advanced math and probability classes at New Jersey’s best technical college. Smart kid, right? In high school, they wouldn’t let him out of special education. They wouldn’t let him take a general education math class or science class. He was kept in a basement room doing math alongside kids, who were struggling with long division. Why? Because he had autism.
Ian’s friend, who will remain nameless here, had a really mild case of autism, just some speech and communication difficulties. A speech impediment and physical differences, combined with a thick Indian accent, probably made teachers think he had an intellectual disability. (Hello! Better professional development on autism, please!) So, he got put in the basement classroom, where all kids with IEPs are never challenged, held back by IDEA expectations.
Straight up (as my son, Jonah, says), few kids with a high school diploma are ready for a competitive college, even in my fancy suburb. Most parents aren’t aware than a “college prep” course prepares kids for a community college, not a traditional college. Typically, student need honors level classes to thrive at a competitive college. Most students, who are placed in classes below the “college prep” level, are not adequately prepared for community college.
Apt. 11d 
I agree with your comment that college-prep classes prepare students for community college and honors (and AP) classes prepare for a more rigorous 4 year college. I wonder how many people (parents? students?) know that. Students get to choose their level of challenge when they choose their schedule. This is mostly a good thing but it is probably true that they think more about what will be easier and less about how it will affect them after graduation. I teach at a very large, low socioeconomic level high school and we do not have high percentage of students who go to college. It would be almost impossible to motivate some students to do college level work, others happily take 5 AP classes.
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