Standard math education destroys math ability?

The New York Times on Sunday published this article on the problems Americans have with math.

It turns out that American math education isn't just less than perfectly effective, it even has been shown to mess up the ability of street vendors in Brazil to do the calculations they were doing in their head successfully before being subjected to this "education."

The article focuses on a Japanese researcher who's moved to the U.S. to try and help U.S. schools implement the more successful strategies for math education in Japan and elsewhere.

We've got to do something ... the article also says that a rival to McDonald's quarter pounder that was 1/3 pound failed because most of those in a focus group though 1/4 was bigger than 1/3 and the new burger was a "rip off." 

Have direct experience with poor math education? Comments please!