I was very fortunate in that my high school had what amounted to a college catalogue and while there were requirements, they were of the nature (we were on a quarter system, 3 courses per normal year), 9 English credits, 9 math credits, 6 PE credits, etc.

It was left up to the student to select which courses would fill those credit requirements.

There was also a prerequisite tree, so some things you couldn't avoid. You were pretty much going to have to take Paragraph Writing in English and whatever the pre-algebra was in math, unless you tested out. And there were placement tests which could give you credit for the bottom of the tree.

But after that, you could focus on statistics or business math or literature or composition. I particularly liked the structure of Paragraph Writing, Beginning Essay Writing, Intermediate Essay Writing, Advanced EW: Research Paper, Advanced EW: Persuasive Writing, Advanced EW: Article Writing, etc.

We also had a second year of biology and chemistry for those inclined.

After I finished they switched to a semester system and it was all replaced with almost entirely requirements. English 1, English 2, English 3.... Do the teachers even know what topics are meant to be covered when courses are titled so generically?

The argument was htat the earlier system was good for kids who knew what they wanted but that everyone else needed to be told what to learn.

Bunch of hogwash. I'm more and more convinced that the education system (teacher education) is driven by latest fads and whatever Cool Aid has caught the literature's eye than actual science about how people learn.