I was part of the "alternate math" experiment generation. Over the course of 8 years we were taught math using 5 or 6 different proprietary systems that some politician dreamed up. One year, its all about studying and preparing us for this series of tests that we will have to pass in addition to our courses to graduate, then no mention of the tests ever again. We wasted an entire year being programmed to take a standardized test that never happened.
I made the mistake of taking one of those "College Algebra" courses, since it had been 2 years since I had taken a math course (opted for an internship in high school instead). What a waste of time. The only good part of the course was the look on the professor's face when she saw me frantically scribbling in my notebook, came over to help, and saw an entire page of handwritten Lisp psudo-code. The look of confusion on her face was priceless.
The little I did manage to pick up in my grade school education came from hardworking and involved teachers, that went outside the system to help us. There were very few of those.
College in the US is the new GED. Just a useless piece of paper that you need so the HR manager doesn't immediately toss your job application in the trash.