Round Lake Dist. 116 union using billboards to call out state

Round Lake Area Unit District 116's teachers union is calling attention to tardy state payments with eye-catching messages off two busy thoroughfares.

Teachers union officials received authorization to pay for a billboard visible on eastbound Route 120 near Route 134 in Hainesville on the district's south end, and one off Rollins Road on the north side in Round Lake Beach.

"Our Students Deserve the Best!" reads the red, white and black message from the Round Lake Education Association union. "The State owes ROUND LAKE SCHOOLS $1,500,000. Tell your legislator to fully fund our schools!"

Kim Kearby, a District 116 teacher and longtime union local president, said political action committee money paid for the boards that went up three weeks ago and have about seven more days to run. He declined to say how much was spent on the effort.

"We just want to draw attention that schools - not only Round Lake - are suffering," Kearby said Friday.

District 116 Chief Executive Officer Ben Martindale said the amount the state owes to the Round Lake schools has grown since the union bought the billboards. The figure has gone from $1.5 million to about $3.8 million.

Martindale said he noticed one of the billboards about District 116's financial predicament in his travels.

"It's certainly an interesting way of doing it," he said. "It does draw attention."

Round Lake-area schools are more dependent on state revenue than other suburban school districts, officials said. Last month, an anticipated $3.26 million decline in state aid was cited by the school board as a reason for $3.89 million in budget cuts made for the 2010-11 academic year.

District 116 was near collapse because of poor finances when a special state finance authority took over in 2002. The authority has deemed District 116 stable enough to return control to the local elected school board in July, but will continue monitoring operations in the 2010-11 academic year.

Nanci Radford, president of District 116's elected board, said it's OK with her that the teachers union was willing to spend its money to spread the word about the late aid payments on the two billboards.

"The first time I saw it I said, 'Good, let the whole world know the state owes us money,'" Radford said.

Round Lake's teachers union is under the National Education Association umbrella. Other educators belong to branches of the American Federation of Teachers.

Michael McGue, president of the Lake County Federation of Teachers, said the local membership is focused on a postcard campaign to send concerns to state representatives and senators.