Maybe the real problem is that most of those higher paying jobs actually require the skills learned in Algebra 1. My question is-- if being a highly paid plumber doesn't require a basic high school education, then why would anyone insist that candidates for journeyman programs have a diploma?

Math-phobic or not, I think that JonLaw's point is a good one-- most people are capable of learning (up to some point, at least) what they are highly motivated to learn.

There is an alternate route to Vo/Tech education at community colleges, and in many cases, work experience will stand in for educational ones. A G.E.D. has no particular course requirements, so there is an alternative minimum.

Algebra 1 isn't that hard. In all of my years of teaching, I really only ran into a couple of students who truly weren't capable of going there. (Those were some sad, sad, sad office visits involving a lot of kleenex, by the way; those kids really didn't belong in college at all.)

It would have been better for those few kids to have known how limited they were before leaving high school, honestly.

I'm trying to think of an occupation that does NOT require the knowledge of basic Algebra 1, and I can't think of one. Basically even being an adult homemaker, childcare provider, or anything else as an independent adult requires some basic algebra and applied consumer math.

There's no other way to understand pricing, critically evaluate credit-card or loan agreements, comparison shop, or understand government spending/budgeting. (Well, okay... understanding government spending may be a reach. Nobody understands it. LOL)

Being able to calculate expenses and determine ordering quantities or make estimates on a job are all algebra skills. Now, should we be teaching "calculus-track" algebra and also "vo-tech track" algebra? OF COURSE.

My point is that basic citizen-level numeracy has moved to be more demanding, though. I do not think that the barrier is a single class. The real barrier is the knowledge.

Schrödinger's cat walks into a bar. And doesn't.