By Kay Nolan
For WisBusiness.com
As a fiscally conservative businessman, Bret Gundlach sees plenty of opportunities for school districts to cut administrative overhead without sacrificing anything in the classroom.
But even as he backs those cuts he’s also in favor of better pay for teachers, and says under certain circumstances he’d support putting more money into schools — even if it means raising taxes — because he sees education as the solution to many social and economic issues.
He voices a strong call for an end to wasteful spending by school districts, along with a dislike for collective bargaining.
“We’re for teachers, but not for teachers’ unions,” is how Gundlach sums up his opinion. “I think there should be more money available to teachers. There should be fair pay for teachers. There should be more money available for opportunities and less for all the overhead that sits on top.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the newest installment of WisBusiness.com’s part of the We the People/Wisconsin 2012 economy project. Members of the statewide media coalition will follow Gundlach and Wisconsin families throughout the year telling their stories and their views on the state and national economy.
The project involves Wisconsin media outlets based in Appleton, Chippewa Falls, Green Bay, La Crosse and Madison.
Now in its 20th year, We the People/Wisconsin provides a unique voice for citizens all across Wisconsin. WTP’s mission is to broaden residents’ participation in public life through citizen-based reporting, town meetings, candidate and issue forums. Since it began in 1992, WTP has sponsored more than 100 live televised forums, candidate debates, statewide conferences and town hall meetings.
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3/3/12: Intro: Meet Bret Gundlach
Gundlach, 44, owns a business that develops software for retail and restaurant point-of-sale functions. His staff of about a half-dozen have highly specialized computer skills.
Gundlach has a 15-year-old son and a 12-year-old daughter, but because they live with their mother in Grafton, about 100 miles from Madison, he has to trust that they are getting a solid education.
While his kids report that they enjoy school and that they like their teachers, Gundlach worries that today’s curriculums aren’t keeping up with those of other nations. He fears that the trend toward making every student feel special and successful isn’t preparing them for the tough realities of college and the business world.
“I don’t know how much of what you hear is true and whether it’s a bias of who’s saying it, but it seems as if we’re slipping in the world,” he said. “You see more focus and more determination in other areas of the world than we have. I’m afraid we’ve gotten too fat and happy in the U.S. and we’re losing being one of the top tiers of society because of that.”
Gundlach admits he doesn’t have all the answers to improving U.S. schools, but he said he’s bothered by what he suspects are excessive administrative costs here in Wisconsin.
“I just see a ton of overhead in schools,” he said. “As a business owner, I could cut 20, 30 percent right off the top and not lose anything in the classroom at all. What are we doing about that?”
“You look at Wisconsin schools and 400-plus school districts, which means 400-plus school administrators and all the bureaucracy that goes on top of that,” he said. “What is the benefit to having so many administrators making six figures?”
“It doesn’t have to be that way,” said Gundlach. “I think a lot of these administrative things could be consolidated with no loss of service at all.”
At the same time however, Gundlach adds, “I’m not a union guy either and I think that there’s overhead that has come with years and years of union demands and certainly, I value teachers, but I think that’s gotten a little out of control as well.”
“I’d rather see teachers making more money and being professionals and not be, ‘We’re all the same and we’re in the union,'” he said.
Although Gundlach describes himself as fiscally conservative, he doesn’t think education funding should get short shrift.
“I could see raising taxes — if — they’ve shown to taxpayers that they’re not already wasting, you know, like I said, that 20, 25 percent that’s right at the top, that’s already, in my mind, overhead and waste,” he said. “If you cut it down to where it’s more reasonable and then you say, ‘You know what? We do want to give merit pay and we want to keep the band program,’ then yes, I’d be all for that.”
Gundlach also said he does not like to see school districts cutting costs by eliminating “extras,” such as art, music, or shop classes. Not all students are alike, he says, and many might discover a talent in the arts or skilled trades if they are exposed to these things in elementary or high school.
“I think we lose every time we cut things like that,” he said.
Coincidentally, as a participant in Leadership Greater Madison, a leadership training program of the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce Foundation, Gundlach said he and some other members recently have been working to get the word out to young people that there are great careers out there that don’t require a four-year college education.
“The track may be a more technical education,” he said.
Reducing high school courses designed for non-college-bound students hurts businesses who need employees, Gundlach said. “To cut those opportunities of having kids ready to go to work after school, I think we’re losing out on some of that as well.”
