I agree it Ms. Wente's contentions about the utility of coding in mass education.
I had a miserable time learning high school math. I lost interest when they introduced "new math" as I entered Grade 9.
I scraped through Grade 9 math but failed Grade 10 math - off to summer school.
I similarly failed Grade 11 math. My parents hired a tutor with no noticeable effect.
I remember one report card where I had the dubious distinction of having both the highest mark in the class in any subject (Geography, 92%) and the lowest in the class (surprise, Math 25%). 
Off to summer school again which boosted my make-up mark to 49%. The unexpected bonus of that stint was an elective course in speed reading which greatly assisted my subsequent university course load with a joint History/English major. Thank you Ms. Hume for that!.
The irony is that my subsequent career employed loads of statistics and analysis which I managed with little effort.
No thanks to school, I learned the math I needed to know.