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Notes -
I think there might be more variation now by school, though I can't really support that with data.
I graduated from a dirt poor Rustbelt school system near Cleveland in '96. There wasn't too much pressure on the kids even then but they also still held kids back and discipline for conduct issues was certain and fairly severe. In school suspension was very common as the offending kids would be loose on the streets if they were fully expelled/suspended and send "home" and the cops weren't having it. As far as academic rigor, as long as you reached a baseline that was all they asked. There was no advanced material for the smarter/faster kids. I heard the term "AP Class" for the first time as a freshman in college in '97. Starting in 10th grade the smarter kids could test to attend some classes at the local Kent State branch with all the advanced kids from the entire county.
We had very little homework as kids couldn't take the textbooks home; there weren't enough to go around so we had to put them back on the shelf when we were done with them in the class room. The district couldn't risk the kids losing/destroying them. I remember having to double up with the kids beside me for science as there were only about 20 books for a class of 40 kids. No money for art or shop class at all. In HS the kids could at least go to the vocational school at the county level which had some budget. Our HS had a shop class area but it had been shuttered around '91 for no budget. There was a band, but much like the textbooks kids had to share instruments. Very few parents could afford to actually buy their kids a personal instrument. HS chemistry had "labs" but they were largely theoretical unless the supplies could be scrounged from household goods. We had to wear our coats during class in the winter.
Compared to that, the same district is doing much better now. The state changed funding schemes and some clever local politician trickery secured some new buildings, money for more staff, and a baseline budget pulling it up to about average for the state. Shop and art are back etc. For me the 80's and early 90's were a distinctly terrible time to be in my school at least. I graduated #2 in my class and was moderately unprepared for college though I pulled it out eventually.
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