Math is really one of those core subjects that really needs to be taught better in schools, and anxiety inducing penalties are never the right way to go about it.

I think everyone should know math at least up to trigonometry, its surprisingly important just in everyday life and knowing math unlocks a lot of skills in life. Just think about how much math is used in the trades, cooking, running a business, doing drugs, going shopping, etc. As a tutor I used to see so many people that just couldn’t even do basic order of operations or understand negative numbers. This was never a case of unintelligent, more a failing of their education. These people were, much like you, genuinely operating with a handicap of understanding and academic support.