Worse than that, getting rid of advanced classes in public schools increases the divide between rich and poor, because the private schools attended by wealthy children will still have advanced classes.
I don't buy this. Rich people already have better schools and will do better anyway. The divide is growing not because of schooling but because of the centralization of wealth.
That's also true, but "dumbing down" public schools by eliminating advanced learning classes will make it even more difficult for the poor to compete in the knowledge economy.