More students are completing high school, but fewer are prepared to learn a skilled trade or pass a college math class.

Ford can't find auto mechanics -- for $120,000 a year. Most high school graduates don't know enough math (or read well enough) to succeed in job training.

Math skills predict adult earnings more strongly than reading skills, health or other factors.

Engineering, computer science, accounting, finance and medicine will not be options for people who couldn't find the lowest common...