A compromise would be to have two streams:The left-brained folks should follow the Algebra ->Geometry->Calculus track;the right-brained folks should have a Combinatorics ->Geometry ->Calculus track.

That's way too late, BTW. In most of the developed world, loosely "algebraic" thinking is introduced starting from the earliest grades, generally phrased as "here's how you should reason to solve these complex, 'multiple step' word problems". "Single-step" word problems (as we'd call them in the U.S.) are effectively unknown, since they're pointless (except as a curiosity); the whole point of word problems is to introduce complex reasoning about mathematical operations, which then seamlessly motivates formal algebraic reasoning.

(A good review article on this approach: Persson, Ulf and Toom, André: Word Problems in Russian Mathematical Education, available at: https://cs-web.bu.edu/faculty/gacs/toomandre-com-backup/my-a... )

No, I'd say Algebra I isn't an advanced class, but rather the "gatekeeper" class you have to pass to get into the actual "advanced" classes.

The real craziness is in K-12 education itself. Colleges have just evolved their own "system" to cope with that in the most practicable way while preserving the world-class standards they care about. (Gen-ed college courses is another example. In most of the world, providing 'gen-ed' is the job of high school!)

the bullsh*t it creates.

Educational systems invariably lapse into patterns where autodidacts are rewarded for pretending they received their wisdom from the educational system.

Some cooperate, some refuse...

You seem to imply the intent is to allow strong students to advance more quickly. Except the data does not show that correlation, it shows that skill and advancement are not correlated. It is a different intent.

"The enrollment process created additional barriers for students and families. When students went online to select their courses, in many school districts they could not see classes that required teacher recommendations and may not have known those courses existed. Students who requested placement in advanced classes were frequently told they could not enroll, even when they had strong academic credentials. Students had no pathway to demonstrate their readiness or earn their way into these courses through their academic performance. They had to be recommended by a teacher."

Maybe this system shouldn't be set up this way? Who set up the system I wonder.

> Research in the 1990s found that in California, Latino students scoring above the 90th percentile on standardized tests had only about a 50% chance of being placed in college preparatory classes, while Asian and white students with similar scores had more than a 90% chance.

The data is split by community ( Black, Latino, White, ...). Whites and Asians fare the best (see also their fig. 6.1). Kids from other communities are prevented from getting the same opportunities as kids from these two communities performing equivalently.

So it is not that Asian kids don't matter, it is that the data indicates that Asian kids already seem to be treated reasonably well.