State Senator Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh recently asked a fair question: California is spending far more on its schools, so where is the money going, and are students doing better? As a former school board member who has spent more than a decade studying how districts spend education dollars, I agree that parents and taxpayers deserve an answer.

Some context first. California underfunded its schools for decades, and per-pupil spending did not return to the national average until 2018-19. The state now ranks about 16th in per-pupil spending, and about 31st once labor costs are factored in. Spending more is not the same as overspending.

So what are we getting? A review of 806 district accountability plans this year, covering more than four million students and $35.6 billion in spending, found mixed results. Attendance and behavior are improving, but roughly two-thirds of plans with measurable academic targets are behind pace or moving backward. Almost half of planned spending goes to hiring and retaining staff.

That is where the focus belongs. Most of us remember a teacher who challenged us or noticed us when we needed it, and a 2025 research synthesis of about 2.64 million students linked strong teacher-student relationships to better achievement, engagement and well-being.

Yet California struggles to keep teachers. In 2023-24, teachers leaving the workforce accounted for 86 percent of vacancies, and turnover was about 14 percent.

Accountability should not automatically mean spending more or spending less. It should mean spending with purpose. Does an investment help us attract and keep excellent teachers? Does it give them better tools? Can we show students are better off?

The same standard should apply to bureaucracy. The typical accountability plan runs about 110 pages. Compliance is not accountability, and in small and rural districts, every hour spent on unnecessary paperwork is an hour taken from students.

This matters more as artificial intelligence changes how students learn. Used well, AI can free teachers to do what technology cannot: pay attention to a child. Students will also need teachers to help them sort through a flood of AI-generated content and ask what is true. A good teacher does not tell students what to think. A good teacher teaches them how to think.

Senator Ochoa Bogh is right to keep asking where the money goes. We should cut what does not work and invest in what the evidence supports. But after following billions of dollars through hundreds of local plans, I keep arriving at the same place: a classroom, a student and a teacher.

Public education is expensive. So is failing to educate a generation. Education is more than an expense. It is an investment in the people our children will become.

Editor's note: Randall Putz is the Mayor of Big Bear Lake, a former Bear Valley Unified School District trustee, and a candidate for California State Assembly District 34.