There should be equal access to advanced programmes. If your grades meet the criteria or are within the top x students for x places them you should get in.
The problem is that too few low-income students meet the requirements for AP or Honors-level classes.
The problem is
not that the classes use an application process and that there is discrimination in admissions.
This.
Some have posited that the problem should be solved by making sure that the criteria are rigorous and objective.
Experiences in the various states of Germany (the country mentioned in the Atlantic article as having the most intricate and established tracking systems) have shown that the most rigorous and objective criteria are correlated with the best results but with the least SES equity. All correlation and no causation of course, but the few states where access to the highest track is almost equitable by SES are also almost two years behind according to the OECD PISA data.
Academic readiness is a problem to be tackled at pre-school level, not when the kids are 17.
