As a mathematician, as someone who teaches K-14 math to math-phobic adults in a semester, and as a staff member at a Sudbury school, my biased, anecdotal answer

As a mathematician, as someone who teaches K-14 math to math-phobic adults in a semester, and as a staff member at a Sudbury school, my biased, anecdotal answer is that mathematical education is designed to tell most students that they can't do mathematics. They take that to heart and wear this mark of shame both proudly and deeply troubled by it. It is quite a tragedy. When I teach courses that I have no control over, I see over and over again tricky questions that have no relevance to actual mathematical understanding or use. At the same time, the majesty, wonder, and beauty of mathematics is expressly avoided as being "too much for students to handle". In essence, we treat students as if they are computers learning rules to apply. But mathematics is about artistry and creativity. Being cold and harsh, being factory like, deprives one of the part of the brain necessary to do real mathematics. Adults routinely tell me "I did well in mathematics until...and then I stopped understanding. I stopped enjoying, I struggled with my grades, and I can't do math." Bottom line, people get labeled as bad at mathematics and they accept it. And it is only getting worse with common core tests. We might also even see future generation being bad at reading, etc. Already I hear first graders saying "I'm not a reader because I do poorly on the reading tests." It is sad because mathematics is one of the great gifts to humanity. It is breathtaking when used and done properly.