Don't take too much blame. The primary problem with math literacy is the societal acceptance of it. People will "hide" reading illiteracy, and being "well spoken" is still considered an asset. But being "bad at math" is something we're willing to joke about. Worse, we're willing to poke fun at those who are "good at math". Watch alot of current television and it is filled with characters who accel at math and science, and are portrayed as some "oddball" character. Bones, Big Bang, and others practically make a plot line out of poking fun at anyone with real skills.
The ONLY thing I'd really say about educators is to not participate in the "your bad at math" explanation. I've never met ANYONE who was truly "bad at math". Okay, yes, some are better than others, especially at any given moment (grade). But I'm an engineer and there were a couple of times in my education where I struggle for long periods of time with some aspect until I grasped it. I've spoke to alot of my peers and they all admit to at least ONE period in which they thought they'd hit some sort of wall. But once you get past it, you're off and runniing again.
Because I'm an engineer, alot of parents ask me to "help" their kids who struggle at one point or another. Every single time I'm told "Jonny just isn't very good at math". And yet what I find EVERY SINGLE TIME is that Jonny is just fine at math. His problem is that he has some misconception about the particular aspect he is currently studying and it is bringing him to a complete stop. I find what his misconception is, fix it, and they are off and running.
Teachers are overburdened far too often so I can understand they don't necessarily have all the time they need to do this kind of searching. So I'm not bragging or blaming. I'd just beg teachers to basically never tell a parent, much less a child, that they're not good at math. Just admit that it appears he has something blocking his understanding and we just haven't found it yet. (Of course a big part may be merely that the kid has lost all motivation to even try).
We teach reading and writing and every single student is expected to accel at it to a relatively high degree. And no one is running around making fun of the kids that do well in British Literature classes. But a kid that struggles with Algebra is just "bad at math" and therefore will be steered away from physics classes. But let him be good at math, and he's a nerd.
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