Should we eliminate tracking?

Tracking, although easily misused to further segregate the educational system, should not be altogether eliminated. For the one thing, there is the problem posed as to how to best teach a full class of students of varying (sometimes drastic) ability. If a teacher were to teach to the "middle" student, those with more difficulty would not learn and those with higher ability would become restless. Tracking is an evident solution to this common problem, although it often becomes an excuse to separate based upon race, as in a High School in rural Alabama. Tracking benefits most those that wish to push themselves to become higher achievers, and so there is some merit in that which promotes a tracking system based upon choice. However, to say that tracking in middle/high school is the same as that in elementary school, would be false. In elementary school there isn't often a choice; the children are separated unknowingly by their ability onto an honor roll, which could have the effect of creating a rigid barrier to opportunity for the rest of that child's educational career. Manifesting so early on in a child's life this idea of "superior" and "inferior" intellect/ability could have the adverse affect of making that student accept his or her position, and giving up the choice for hard work and a challenge that they could later on benefit from.
Although tracking has been much abused by our school systems, I can't say that I have not benefited from it, nor will continue to in the future. I think that, if there were a way to insure flexibility and non-biased opportunity, than tracking could effectively challenge every student at a level they could tackle.