If I had any brats that had good hands on skills, I would push to the trades too.
No kids at all though.
I grew up just outside of Charlotte myself.
Wealthy school district, yes. The powers that be only cared about college prep. That meant about half the school population meant very little.
Only auto mechanics and ag. No jrotc or much else. I hated the place and the weak kneed administration.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system is all about the top echelon, while throwing money at the bottom to pay off the rent-seekers even if the students learn nothing. Union County, where I live, has a different set of constraints, but none of the systems wins when a student says, “I want to go to South Piedmont Community College and learn to install air conditioners!”
It makes no sense to say that 90% of people are above average and will benefit from four years of college. A year of community college or even less in a medical aide program will qualify a person for $15-20/hour jobs, as many hours as they can work.