These days, it seems like a horrible idea not to develop a basic understanding of math. How important? It's actually kind of hard to say. It can vary quite a bit depending on how you will use it. For the general public, you really only need to understand the concepts.
Calculators and software have taken away a lot of the work people put into math. Using a calculator these days is far more valuable than knowing how to work out addition and subtraction on a piece of paper. I also feel that most people need to know how to use spreadsheets.
This doesn't mean that there is no value in knowing how to work things out on paper. The most basic argument for this is that you don't always have a computer or a calculator. More importantly, it can help you understand the math better. You aren't going to be able to use a calculator for simple math or subtraction if you don't understand how those operations work and what they are for.
Even with all of this, the necessities are pretty basic. The average person does not actually have much use for geometry or algebra. Also, there is the prioritization issue. I would rank literacy above math, but both below independent thought. Like literacy, there are serious limits to how hard we should push math.
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