Education

We have a whole lot of kids in high school that are ready for college classes. Many are scared of them or don't think they could hack them. Others are ready for them and know it.

Dual-credit handles this. It's not usually for vo-tech courses, but to serve the top 10% of the student body.

A school can have AP classes, in which there's a single high-stakes test in order to make the AP credit available.

A school can have IB classes, structured differently from AP classes but still giving kids a step up on college.

A school can have dual-credit classes, so that kids actually take a community college class while in high school and receive college credit.

Texas requires schools to offer a range of advanced high-school courses, and dual-credit classes can help satisfy that requirement.

You're thinking of community colleges as technical and vocational certificate-granting institutions. That they are, but for a lot of students they're sort of starter colleges, "gateway schools".