ST. CHARLES – The St. Charles Education Association (SCEA) today filed a complaint against attorney Larry Bettag for knowingly engaging in unethical and dishonest conduct related to the St. Charles Community Unit District 303 school board elections. The complaint was filed with the Attorney Registration and Discipline Commission (ARDC) of the Illinois Supreme Court. The ARDC investigates complaints against attorneys and can take disciplinary action.
Bettag and others affiliated with the real estate attorney’s fringe group, Kane County Speaks, knowingly distributed hundreds if not thousands of fake flyers to the St. Charles community. These flyers, with deliberate disinformation, have been caught on ring camera video as they’re being left on doors, on mailboxes and even on cars in church parking lots—despite members of those churches specifically asking these individuals not to distribute materials on their grounds.
These flyers indicate the candidates pictured are endorsed by D303 educators, however, these are not the candidates endorsed by the D303 educator coalition, which is comprised of SCEA, the St. Charles Educational Support Professionals (SCESP) and the St. Charles Transportation and Maintenance (SCT&M). The flyers also note they are affiliated with Kane County Speaks and paid for by the political action committee (PAC) People of Kane County, which according to state elections data is chaired by Bettag’s wife, Michelle Brickert.
“There is a calculated effort in D303 to take advantage of the community’s trust in our educators, a trust we have worked so hard to build, and it is an effort that manipulates the voters in our community,” SCEA President Jennifer Adam said. “This group, like so many others, is working to undermine the work of public educators and public schools by infiltrating our school boards. Our students and our communities deserve better than this. We deserve honesty, integrity and leaders who will put education and children above political gamesmanship.”
The flyer in question lists only one of the four candidates formally recommended by the coalition of St. Charles educator unions, known as D303 educators.
The official candidates recommended by the union coalition are:
- Kate Bell
- Heidi Fairgrieve
- Jenna Hancock
- Kimberly Rich
“These fake flyers mimic the language our coalition of unions has historically used in support of our recommended candidates, falsely claiming that D303 educators have endorsed three school board candidates who did seek the recommendations of our three D303 unions but did not receive them,” SCEA President Jennifer Adam said. “This behavior would be wrong for any citizen, but it is especially egregious when you know it is coming from an attorney who took an oath to uphold the laws of our great state with integrity and respect.”
The union coalition encourages community members to seek accurate information and verify endorsements through trusted sources.
“We hope our community recognizes the gravity of this situation, and it isn’t fooled by the disinformation circulating,” Adam said. “The right to vote is a privilege, especially in an election that so directly and deeply impacts our students’ lives.”
SCEA, SCESP and SCT&M represent the more than 1,400 teachers, licensed staff, support staff, maintenance workers, custodians, grounds workers, and bus drivers currently working at the 15 schools in District 303. They serve the more than 11,500 students in the district.
Find more information about the D303 Educator Coalition’s recommended candidates for school board here. Election Day is April 1.
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The 135,000 member Illinois Education Association (IEA-NEA) is the state’s largest union. IEA represents Pre K-12 teachers outside the city of Chicago and education support staff, higher education faculty, retired education employees and students preparing to become teachers, statewide.
