IMHO, tracking kids with less than stellar academic aptitudes into trade schools is anathema to the spirit of the US educational system. Kids should be allowed to take the trade school route if that's what they desire, but forcing them to do so is an entirely different matter. If it's patently obvious that a kid despises regular school, he should be encouraged to consider trade school, but some administrator deciding what direction a kid's education should take without considering the kid's desires is simply not how things are done in the US. If the kid wants to be a C student in regular school instead of learning to be a plumber, it's his right to do so.