Here’s a list of industries from the BLS. I see a whole lot of industries that high school graduates can enter without expertise in algebra.
Total Employment by Industry Sector
Sector Industry 2008 2009 2010
11 Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting 1,175,975 1,149,145 1,154,071
21 Mining 713,734 641,737 651,918
22 Utilities 816,560 821,449 807,673
23 Construction 7,315,195 6,136,403 5,672,913
31-33 Manufacturing 13,425,573 11,854,096 11,532,213
42 Wholesale Trade 5,955,341 5,562,324 5,466,844
44-45 Retail Trade 15,374,115 14,611,408 14,549,251
48-49 Transportation and Warehousing 5,357,858 5,028,657 4,935,603
51 Information 3,139,585 2,956,723 2,848,734
52 Finance and Insurance 5,887,222 5,649,983 5,520,206
53 Real Estate and Rental and Leasing 2,157,368 2,017,447 1,961,617
54 Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services 7,918,296 7,586,118 7,567,186
55 Management of Companies and Enterprises 1,895,417 1,855,139 1,854,778
56 Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services 8,079,181 7,239,599 7,482,610
61 Education Services 12,103,006 12,171,846 12,144,279
62 Health Care and Social Assistance 17,433,674 17,764,982 18,077,213
71 Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation 2,380,659 2,323,222 2,300,728
72 Accommodation and Food Services 11,491,913 11,158,761 11,183,469
81 Other Services (except Public Administration) 4,541,233 4,425,121 4,406,249
92 Public Administration 7,429,907 7,474,515 7,545,067
Most trades have apprentice programs where they learn by doing under a ‘master’ plumber, electrician, carpenter, etc.
Alfred North Whitehead said that most people only need to learn addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and, curiously, statistics.
I had come to the same conclusion, except for the statistics part.
OK, then, let’s go whole hog.
Eliminate spelling and grammar. California has already done it. While we’re teaching kids to excel in innumeracy, we can pile on illiteracy. Checkout clerks don’t need to write or spell, right? Neither do bus drivers. So why make kids learn how to spell much less write a paragraph?