I don't teach at a 'top' high school. But those rankings fail our students.

almost all the chgo schools listed r selective enrollment/gifted.
how about ranking schools anyone can go to?

You produce welders and machinists, they're not college ready.

That this is the criterion is not at issue. Except in this article. I've argued with principals in public that this is the wrong criterion for some kids, but nonetheless it's true. Graduate with a certification in small engine repair, that's nice. Yet it seems wrong that my high school valedictorian "majored" in being a machinist, with general-ed courses like "Math 10" and "Personal finance" while the other kids with physics and pre-cal and college bound were demoted. Or perhaps not--depends if you think education versus vocation matters. Which is better, a D.Ed. or a master machinist?

Graduate with credits for 10 college courses, you've cut out a year of college and more. Knew one teacher whose kid entered college and when the college credits were awarded for AP tests and DC courses was a junior. Graduated with a 4-year degree after 2.5 years at the flagship state school, and it took more than 2 years simply because a required course needed a prereq she hadn't gotten credit for. So that fall she took grad classes towards her masters. Saved parents and self $60k.

DC classes are often through CCs. Transferring those credits can be difficult, esp. out of state.

It's great that a school gets those deprived by their K-8 schools of a good education a grade or two ahead of where they started +4. But in the end it's not how much the school improves you, but where your kids end up.

Same in a race. "In this marathon, Katie Moiseevna al-Rahim y Garcia was in last place at the mid-point. But he came in at 20th out of 200 across the finish line." Gee, Katie--he--improved his standing a lot. But there aren't trophies for 20th place. It's a societal thing, and I'm not one to think that society would be so much better simply if it were to adopt my views.

Note that these days most schools near me have both DC and AP classes because it costs little to have both--just teacher training and maybe student subsidies (if the district/school tosses $ at paying student expenses). IB is an oddity--it's expensive and while it's a good program, it's not cheap and takes a lot of work. Even then, there's a choice--do you maintain standards so the classes are small but most pass the IB tests or do you lax standards so classes are large but your IB test pass rate bumps the bottom?