Thursday, June 29, 6000
Tuesday, February 15, 4000
STRS Ohio Watchdogs: a public Facebook group you can join
Sunday, August 27, 3950
Have you joined the Ohio STRS Member Only Forum on Facebook?
Click image to enlarge
Monday, June 25, 3900
Monday, June 24, 3850
Wednesday, May 28, 3800
Friday, February 27, 3750
Sunday, April 11, 3700
Thursday, March 10, 3650
Friday, February 24, 3550
Monday, April 29, 3450
I know, it's weird.........
Monday, February 24, 3400
This is an abbreviated version of the original 'Handy links' post. Click here to view a more complete list. (Some of it is old.)
State legislators.......State of Ohio website
Tuesday, February 24, 3350
Dennis Leone's STRS Report to ORTA, March 2007
Tuesday, February 23, 3300
Saturday, August 16, 2025
From ORTA: Ohio teachers pension board members sue Attorney General Dave Yost over legal fees
Friday, August 15, 2025
Teachers retirement board members sue Ohio attorney general
nbc4i.com News
Ohio teachers pension board members sue Attorney General Dave Yost over legal fees
Two former STRS Ohio board members are suing Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost over legal representation in a lawsuit against them
By Laura A. Bischoff
Tuesday, August 12, 2025
Trina Prufer on STRS: "... a public retirement system that puts its membership into financial peril, and does not fully disclose the inadequacy of the benefit, is a malevolent institution.
From Trina Prufer
August 11, 2025
Sunday, August 03, 2025
Trina Prufer: The Duplicity of STRS and how it Harmed Members by not providing Full Disclosure
The Duplicity of STRS and how it Harmed Members by not providing Full Disclosure
From Trina Prufer
August 3, 2025
We all know that “reform” legislation, passed in 2012, removed the 3% annual automatic COLA from the defined-benefit. But did you know that it took years before members fully understood what the revised COLA statute (3307.67) actually meant?
One purpose of the legislation was to remove the obligated 3% annual automatic COLA from the unfunded liability, as the debt had grown so large, as to topple the system. The d-b obligation could no longer be sustained, not because the COLA was unreasonable for the rates contributed, but because for years STRS had minimized the impact of the debt on the system, and had done nothing about it.
I have written before about how the ORC (3307.67) and the accompanying Intent Statement do not convey the same information. The Intent Statement contains the unvarnished truth: teachers would no longer have any “ legitimate expectation“ of a COLA, forever. That information was hidden from members and not put into the ORC on purpose. What that meant in real terms is that a portion of money contributed on your behalf by your district to pre-fund the obligation would now now be re-routed to pay off the debt, removing the 3% annual automatic COLA from the liability.
But what was STRS telling members? It was telling members the exact opposite…essentially that current retirees would receive a 2% COLA from then on. It was the qualifier (COLA could be adjusted if fiscal integrity not met) that was the real driver of in the law. No one would realize that the statute had removed the COLA from the benefit. Members were led to the slaughter. Every member needed to fully understand what a benefit without a COLA looked like in order to mitigate the effects of inflation over time. The sooner money could be invested into another income stream, the better. Everyone needed FULL DISCLOSURE, but especially future retirees in determining if the PLOP was right for them.
STRS was fully aware it would never pay a consistent 2% COLA to retirees as it was not built into the funding model. The State Legislature controlled the funding model by setting the contribution rates. STRS and the State exacerbated the financial harm to members by withholding critical information.
Below is the Intent Statement (conveniently left out of the ORC) and what STRS conveyed to members after the passage of the legislation. STRS owes that 2% annual COLA to all retirees because that’s what it wanted them to believe.
Saturday, August 02, 2025
Melissa Cropper: "We’ll also be fighting like hell to hold each and every representative who voted for this budget accountable, not just in general elections but in primary elections too, and not just in the next election year but for the rest of their political careers."
From Melissa Cropper,
President of OFT,
To Chad Smith,
Newly elected STRS board member
Friday, August 01, 2025
Watchdog says politicians blocking transparency for teachers pension fund; Steve Toole, executive director of STRS, declines interview by Colleen Marshall
Colleen Marshall: A retirees’ watchdog group said Ohio politicians are trying to block transparency at the State Teachers Retirement System by silencing the voice of teachers and replacing educators on the STRS board with political appointees.
NBC4 Investigates
Amid STRS board changes, watchdog group raises concerns
by: Colleen Marshall
Thursday, July 31, 2025
Teachers (active and retired): Your pension belongs to YOU; ORTA needs YOUR HELP to keep it in YOUR HANDS, NOT those of a few clandestine politicians!
From ORTA
Help us fight for you by donating to ORTA's Pension Defense Fund.