I personally would prefer K-8 be all general knowledge stuff (like a practical level of math and science) which will then transition into an apprenticeship program to fill in the rest. Can you imagine if you had started to learn you career when you were 12 or 13? It would be like you got a 10 year head start on your career. The vast majority of stuff I learned in high school was an elective or something that should have been an elective such as marine biology or a foreign language. The other stuff was tainted by being taught by liberal teachers so the books I read for literature and history did not actually provide good examples of literature or a useful grasp of history. Fortunately I always loved reading and was fascinated by history so I pursued these things independently, but had I not I would have read true classics or have learned history that was correct and meaningful to understand current events.