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, March 16, 2024
STRS Associates' Salaries as of 02/29/2024
From John Curry
Currently suspended STRS Executive Director [Bill Neville] has a salary listed on Page 3 of $318,270.
Currently "Acting Executive Director Lynn Hoover has a salary listed at exactly $400,000 on Page 3!
Tuesday, March 12, 2024
Private Equity Vultures Took Ohio Teachers’ Retirement. Without More Accountability, Your Savings Could Be Next.
From The Scioto Post
From Vouchers Hurt Ohio
March 12, 2024
Good Tuesday morning,
No surprise.
The $1 billion boondoggle, known as the private school voucher program, is a refund and a rebate bonanza for families, including a lot of wealthy families, and the biggest winners are the private school operators.
Recently, WOSU took a look at what is happening in the Columbus area and their reporting mirrors what is taking place all across Ohio.
The reporter took a deep dive into the Olentangy Local School District in Delaware County and found that in the 2022-23 school year, 30 students living in the district received vouchers for private schools.
In the 2023-24 school year, that number increased by 2,277 percent to 713 students.
Here’s the kicker: the district’s enrollment grew by 500 students, according to the report.
Now Olentangy is currently trying to pass a levy to operate the schools and to build five school buildings needed to handle the projected growth of this amazing community.
Olentangy consistently rates among the best school districts in the state with a very low operating cost per pupil.
This is just one of the nasty consequences of the state using our tax dollars to put hundreds of millions of dollars into the coffers of private school operators.
The Ohio Constitution could not be any clearer: The state shall create a single system of common schools for all school children for the common good.
Vouchers create a separate and unequal system of schools for the well-to-do.
Please read and listen to the report from WOSU here.
The reporter also looked at Dublin schools where the increase in voucher students was 500 compared to last year, and in Upper Arlington where voucher numbers grew from 11 to 260.
Remember in days of yore when the private school voucher system was sold to the public, like snake oil, based on the idea that students from families with lesser means would have a choice of going to a private school.
What a bunch of bunk.
Is your district part of the lawsuit? Check here. If not, why not? The stakes could not be higher.
Want to know how to join? Click here.
Sincerely,
Vouchers Hurt Ohio
Friday, February 23, 2024
STRS Board election numbers: 2018 - 2022
From John Curry
Arthur Lard (OEA-endorsed) 8,053
Thursday, February 22, 2024
Make sure you're sitting down when you read THIS one!
Moving the Chess Pieces of Power
Connecting the Dots…and the Scandals
By DAVID PEPPER
February 22, 2024
Often, in broken states like Ohio, the movement of chess pieces that control both power and money is hidden behind the chaos of extremism that dominates statehouse politics on a daily basis.
As we watch and react to the high-profile stuff, those in power make maneuvers on the low-profile stuff that have a huge impact on money and power. And the more watchdogs and journalists and independent checks and balances go by the wayside, the more these maneuvers take place with no one knowing. Or….after it’s too late.
Want an example?
Here’s an instructive one, and it involves the Retired Teachers Pension Board I’ve been writing about.
Maybe others saw it, but I confess, I missed it. And although I’m an outsider to Columbus, I try to keep up as best as I can. (Always feel free to email me any stories you think I’m missing—this insight came from one such email).
Two Simultaneous Power Plays
This example brings together two of the biggest issues I’ve focused on recently.
First, I’ve pointed out how problematic the Governor’s brute-force takeover of Ohio’s independent Ohio School Board has been. That takeover gutted the institutional checks and balances that voters put in place 70 years ago to keep politicians (and their backers) from riding herd over state education policy. And it eliminated Ohio voters’ direct say on the direction of Ohio education.
The coup over major educational decisions was timed right after 2012 results that the state’s GOP didn’t like. And unless an Ohio court overturns it (litigation is pending), it’s basically succeeded for now—which should scare the hell out of all of us. Decisions over vouchers, curriculum, etc. are now being made behind closed doors by the very people who brought us the ECOT and FirstEnergy scandals.
At the same time, I’ve been equally alarmed by the fact that the Governor was so eager to terminate and replace a board member of the 11-member Retired Teachers Pension Board that he violated Ohio law (according to a recent magistrate’s decision) to do so—directly and personally intervening to nullify the outcome of a highly contested board election. That too is still in the courts.
Those of you who keep up with my newsletters are well versed on both these issues.
The Connection
Beyond the broader attack on public schools and teachers, there’s a direct and very precise connection between these two issues. Amid these simultaneous disputes, a major chess piece moved with hardly any discussion (although I have no doubt it was discussed with glee by the insiders). Here’s that move:
With more than $90B under their collective purview, impacting 100,000s of members, each of the Teachers Pension board’s 11 seats is incredibly important. Each individual seat is so important, apparently, that the Governor was willing to, according to that magistrate’s decision, break the law to ensure he exerted controlled over just a single seat.
But for years, the seat from which he removed that member is the only seat out of the 11 that the Governor directly appoints (to a four-year term). Amid the 11 total seats, the allocation has represented a careful balance of various and independent stakeholders. Here’s how it breaks down:• One Governor appointee• Five seats representing current/contributing teachers (determined via elections of those teachers) —in recent years, each of these seats has been hotly contested• Two seats representing retirees (also determined via elections) — again, each of these, hotly contested• One member appointed jointly by the speaker of the Ohio House and the Senate president, and
• One member designated by the State Treasurer.
Count them up, and that’s 10 total.
The 11th member — well, that’s the interesting one I want to talk about now.
You see, if you look at recent minutes of the STRS Board meetings, you’ll see that the 11th board member has been someone named Scott Hunt.
The minutes make clear that Mr. Hunt has been sitting on the board as the designated representative of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. (Of late, due to a vacancy, he’s been the designee of the Interim Superintendent. But now we have a new Superintendent, whose name is Paul Craft.)
So the Superintendent of Public Instruction of Ohio (or her/his designee) has been that 11th member of the Pension Board.
And who chooses the Superintendent of Public Instruction of Ohio?
She or he is selected by the State School Board (again, that independent body made up of both elected and appointed members, the powers of which the Governor attacked in his state school board takeover). Given that the voters of Ohio gave this independent body a major role over education generally—and that Ohio voters vote for a majority of the State School Board members—having the Superintendent whom the Board selects sit on the Retired Teachers Board makes sense. And just like other checks and balances, that seat would’ve brought a unique and independent view to the pension board, apart from other board members, be they the governor’s or treasurer’s appointees or the elected members.
BUT…those minutes above were from a few months ago.
If you look at the current list of the 11 Retired Teachers Board members on the website, you won’t find the name Scott Hunt anywhere.
You’ll see all the members I listed above, but no Scott Hunt. (You won’t even see the name Paul Craft, or even the title Superintendent of Public Instruction mentioned in the minutes above.)
Who do you see instead as the 11th board member?
This guy (this photo is from the website):
Who is this?
If you’re going to move major chess pieces of power around when few people are looking, you need to at least alert those implementing your maneuver about what you’ve done.
In the meantime, an order was issued yesterday expediting the 10th district’s consideration of DeWine’s actions removing the other board member. Oral arguments will now take place in March:
Dayton Daily News: Ohio teachers pension fund director remains on paid leave; investigative report found no illegal activity
“We would not be supportive of Mr. Neville’s leadership and we’re not supportive of the board members who think everything is fine down there,” Rayfield said.
From the ORTA Blog
February 21, 2024
Neville has been unpopular with many teachers and retired teachers who are represented by the Ohio Retired Teachers Association.
ORTA executive director Robin Rayfield said given the outcome of the report, he didn’t understand why the board chose to keep Neville on paid leave.
But he also said many teachers and retired teachers who either contribute to or draw from STRS do not feel Neville is effectively leading the organization. ORTA advocates for more transparency from STRS and questions many of the agency’s moves, such as giving people who manage the funds bonuses whether the market does well or not.
Click here to read the full article at Dayton Daily News.
ORTA advocates for the pensions and benefits of Ohio's educators, demands accountability from STRS Ohio, and lobbies Ohio's legislators to provide a strong and sustainable retirement system. We rely on membership dues to continue our work. Join ORTA today!
Monday, February 19, 2024
Dan MacDonald to STRS Board: STRS needs to return to pre-reform benefits for actives and an annual 3% COLA for retirees.
Dan MacDonald's comments to STRS Board
Dan MacDonald's summary of the February, 2024 long, long STRS Board meeting
TWO LONG DAYS: STRS FEBRUARY BOARD MEETING
Robin Rayfield: ORTA endorses Michelle Flanigan for STRS Board: "It is only by seating more reform-minded board members that the mismanagement of our pension system can be corrected."
From February, 2024 ORTA Newsletter
Dean Dennis: "... we will not stand by and watch one man’s arrogance or hidden agenda stand in the way of bringing transparency and accountability back to our pension system."
From February 2024 ORTA Newsletter
February 19, 2024
Message to ORTA members from President
Dean Dennis