I completely agree with your post, but a minor correction from someone who has to deal with it daily. The bolded is only partially true...all public high schools/school districts are REQUIRED to allow their students to take any "Level 1" course [a course on the Ohio Transfer Assessment Guide, meaning every public institution MUST give credit for the course]. That means students can take a course in Physics or Calculus at Rhodes State Community College that then MUST be taken for credit at Ohio State, Cincinnati, Toledo, etc...two guesses on if that course has similar rigor and provides similar preparation to students moving forward in an engineering curriculum at those schools. Also, the state doesn't dictate entry requirements, each institution dictates ones themselves...so there are some schools who don't even require a placement test/ACT for reference and just have kids walking into courses they aren't prepared for (mostly the struggling community colleges who see it as a quick buck and don't really worry about the student outcomes).
I can't even begin to tell you the amount of people who flunk out of places with an obscene amount of CCP courses from community colleges or taught by high school teachers with "expertise" in the area. Don't get me started on the parents who have their 7th graders taking a College Composition class because they figure it's easier to just get free credit...that C, D, or F on the transcript doesn't go away, so good luck getting into any reputable University with a 2.3 College GPA. That wonderful inflated GPA at High School A means nothing when you have college course grades for reference now...