I'm all for tracking and vocational training. I don't see how having a set of standards contradicts any of that.
Generally speaking, our public school system doesn't see it that way. The trend among educators and especially those involved in education policy is that the "achievement gap" between different SES groups MUST be closed. Ability grouping of any kind exacerbates the gap and therefore must not be allowed.
This means that we force the slower learners to take algebra and we force the faster ones to move at a pace that's glacial for them. And then the educrats pretend that this is a good thing. The kids at the bottom of the gap arencloser to the kids at the top. Never mind that it happened because we watered down the algebra course and because we created a ceiling to stop the faster learners! And we will conveniently ignore the kids who dropped out because they couldn't pass algebra and the kids who did pass but fail the placement test in college next year and end up in remedial math.
The entire approach is driven in large part by the idea that relative wealth is the sole factor in the achievement gap and that apparent differences in ability are not due biology in any way.
I think that people have become very uncomfortable with the idea that some people are just smarter than other people. I can understand that this is an uncomfortable thing; I certainly feel uneasy when someone remarks that I'm very intelligent. But when we let the unease drive policy, we create a disaster.
