RE: Question 2: Single curriculum

  There is a good reason why some students do not go on to college or succeed in college preparatory programs.  You are all focussing on this as though it were some kind of disease.  It is in fact reality.  It has been this way throughout human history:  some students go in for academics and thrive on the theoretical, and others prefer the more practical, enhanced by hands-on instruction.  
  Many students heading to college, notably in engineering and technology, benefit enormously from exposure to hands-on technologies in the high schools.  Today, such experiences are almost universally rare in the high school.
  While it is true that many students are simply unable to achieve the academic levels required for college entry, that should not be our focus:  we should be developing a future education system that meets both the academic AND the career preparation requirements of our real student population, not what some of us think it OUGHT to be.