When Ford made the startling discovery of a gas tank defect in their soon-to-be-released Pinto in the 1970s, they forged ahead. Millions of dollars had already been invested – it was too late to turn back.

Our education system is a Ford Pinto, and the powers that be don’t want us looking under the hood. Will we forge ahead with investing in an inferior product?

Every further dollar invested into this fatally-flawed system is a missed opportunity to have a conversation about how to reform our education system. It is government’s role to prove that the dollar they take out of your pocket is better spent by them than by yourself. Thus far, it has not met that burden of proof.

Also read: POINT | Stop holding the education system hostage

More than half of Colorado students are not currently reading, writing or doing math at grade level, and those results are even more disastrous for low-income, black and brown students across the state.

The “educational industrial complex” in control of the system today has consistently prioritized self-preservation over the individual needs of students. Reinforced continually by a public school employee union that looms large over Colorado’s ruling party with its automatically-withdrawn campaign contribution war chest, reform has not been a bipartisan cause for nearly a decade in the State Capitol.

Instead of having a conversation about addressing the system’s abysmal outcomes, the educational industrial complex has focused not on self-examination and inflection, but instead on efforts to curtail or completely eliminate benchmark testing that exposes ineffectiveness.

According to a recent examination of the data by the Common Sense Institute, while Colorado has seen a 25% increase in students and a 36% increase in teachers, it has also seen a whopping 132% increase in administrators. Looking deeper, we see that teacher salaries have decreased as a percentage of a school district’s budget, further illustrating that classroom instruction has not been the highest priority of those at the helm.

Alternatives to our current system could fill an article on their own, but Colorado can start by keeping a close eye on Arizona’s recent move to allow parents to use their educational tax dollars to send their children to a school of their choice.

Arguably, there are specific programs within our education system that deserve an increase in funding. That said, there is no evidence that wholesale shoveling of money into educational coffers will result in better outcomes. If one was to add up all local, state and federal funds that go toward education in Colorado, we’d see an average annual spend of more than $14,000 per student – and it’s not currently reaching the classroom. Why would additional dollars be any different?

As Ford should have done in the late 1960s with the Pinto, Colorado needs to consider starting anew. Down with a system that upholds an archaic institution and up with one that prioritizes individual students. Until then, be careful with those tax dollars.

Sage Naumann is a conservative commentator and strategist. He is vice president of communications at 76 Group and was previously the spokesman for the Colorado Senate Republicans. Follow him on Twitter @SageNaumann.