California’s education budget has grown into one of the largest public spending commitments in the United States, yet the relationship between funding and student outcomes remains weak, uneven, and increasingly difficult to defend. Over the past decade, state leaders have treated higher appropriations as a substitute for structural reform. That approach has produced a system where spending expands automatically, while accountability mechanisms remain largely unchanged.

California now spends roughly $150 billion annually on K–12 education, more than double its inflation-adjusted spending from the early 2000s. Per-pupil spending has climbed to approximately $18,000 statewide, placing California among the higher-spending states in the country.

In districts such as Los Angeles Unified, total budgets rival those of mid-sized states. Yet academic performance has not followed a comparable trajectory. According to the most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress, only about 28% of California fourth graders are proficient in reading, and fewer than 35% are proficient in math. Those figures place California below the national average despite its financial scale.

The gap between spending and outcomes becomes more concerning when examined alongside repeated failures in financial oversight. A recent case inside the Los Angeles Unified School District illustrates the problem with unusual clarity. Prosecutors allege that a district employee directed approximately $22 million in........

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