I remember...
And I hope you didn't think at the time that I was brushing your concerns off.
You talked about a back-to-basics approach as one possibility, and personally I agree. It may sound to some like a cliche, but a solid foundation IS important. IMO, a student without a good grasp of the basics (the three R's, as they say) will be faced with closed doors that all the electives in the world won't open.
I personally don't beleive in the notion that some people are simply "bad at math," for instance. Start with the basics, make sure they are understood, and anyone can develop a fluency with math. From there, doors will fly open.