...it isn't going to be parents, generally speaking, because parents are deeply invested in their particular child making it even when they recognize the system is sick. One possible action that came up for this school system was strictly limiting the # of AP classes a student may take.
Yes, but...college admissions. Limiting the number of AP classes will put the students at a disadvantage compared to students from all the other schools that don't limit AP classes. Admissions committees use industrial metrics to judge a candidate's fitness, and the formula includes the number of AP or other "rigorous" courses.
NOTE: I actually agree with you, and have long thought that the AP program as a whole has some serious deficiencies, including the expectation to teach yourself a large chunk of material over the summer.
It's just that,
in the current environment, limiting AP classes may end up stressing out the parents even more, which will lead many to put even more pressure on the kids (who themselves may feel pressure regardless). For example, parents might push their kids into high-workload summer and/or online classes, such as those offered by Stanford's EPGY and its online high school. Some online classes are taught live via video link and run early in the morning to accommodate students in US high schools and students in Asia, meaning that the kids here could lose more sleep. The local high school can't control this kind of thing.
It's a complex, messy, ugly problem. Schools, parents, admissions committees, kids, and economic insecurity all play roles.
