U-46 not shy about fighting state education cuts

Elgin Area School District U-46 is using its school marquees to make an 11th-hour appeal to Gov. Pat Quinn.

With Quinn expected to announce a $1.4 billion decrease in education funding Wednesday during his budget presentation, the 41,000-student district has begun posting "Fix School Funding" on its signs.

U-46, currently $48.6 million in the hole, has announced it plans to make more than $31 million in cuts to next year's budget and could nearly double that if the state makes further funding cuts.

"We need to encourage parents and community members to share their concerns with the governor and members of the General Assembly. Please help us again by using your school marquee," district spokesman Tony Sanders wrote in a Tuesday afternoon message to principals.

Posting a message is not mandatory, Sanders said.

Principals in the districts' 53 schools had mixed reactions about the request.

"We will put up whatever they would like," longtime Elgin High Principal Dave Smiley said. Smiley was one of several administrators polled to determine which phrase to use on signs. He said he felt "Fix School Funding" was succinct.

Budget cuts, Smiley said, "are all we talk about. It's impacting every move we're trying to make. We are absolutely consumed by it."

Third- through eighth-graders across the district are in the middle of Illinois Standards Achievement Tests, the standardized exam that determines whether schools are in compliance with federal No Child Left Behind benchmarks.

"I'm trying to keep this as far away from the kids as I can," Harriet Gifford Elementary Principal Joe Corcoran said. "Trying to keep things as normal as I can." Harriet Gifford in Elgin currently has ISAT information on its school sign, along with the phrase, "Show the World What You Know."

"And as far as changing that, unless they tell us we have to, I probably won't," Corcoran said.

U-46 appears to be the first district in the suburbs to use its signs to advocate for a funding fix.

State law restricts schools from using their building signs for political purposes - a referendum push or school board election, for example. Sanders said U-46 officials believe this falls within the realm of the law.

This is not the first time, however, that districts have used signs to grab attention about the state's budget mess.

The state is currently about $12 million behind in this year's payments to U-46. In January and February, school principals were asked to post the state's bill to the district on their signs.

For seven straight days in late February, Aurora-based Indian Prairie District 204's schools posted "The state of Illinois owes District 204 $7.8 million," on its signs. But last Thursday, Superintendent Kathryn Birkett decided it was time to take them down. "We asked (principals) to add the message because we wanted to raise awareness about how state funding has impacted our budget. I think our community has stepped up and now has a better understanding of the situation," Birkett said. "It's time to turn the signs back over to the schools so they can communicate with parents about school events and celebrate student successes."