I like the Finland system, though I don’t know if certain groups in America would find it acceptable. You get streamed early on as your academic potential becomes apparent. You are then streamed for academics or a trade, depending on what you show you can do.
They used to call that "tracking" when I was in the public schools. Then they stopped it because they thought it was mean to the underperformers. That was in the 70's, just as the school decline accelerated.