Tom Curtis to Ken Ruth: Getting out the vote

From Tom Curtis, February 12, 2006

To Ken Ruth re: Getting out the vote

Outstanding Ken!

We all need to think real seriously about how many actives, inactives and disability retirees we can contact and pass along the need to elect Thomas Hall and Mark Fredrick to the STRS board.

A personal request almost always gets you a vote. We must start a phone calling chain that will provide the necessary votes to win this election. We all have the possibility of contacting at least 1-5 actives through connections we still have in our schools. We have a concentrated group of voters in our schools, many of which have become very disenchanted with the OEA.

From feedback I have been getting this year, the actives are far more aware of the financial situation at the STRS. The OEA backlash may be much greater this year than when John Lazares was elected. Teachers are not happy about having to pay more for insurance when they retire. The OEA stood by and let this fall right into the laps of the teachers. Question: How many really need to get out of the classroom before 35 years? This is a question that needs to be addressed. Can they stand the stress in schools lacking in discipline without ruining their health and making them a burden on the health care stabilization fund when they retire?

Anyone with children at home could not afford the insurance if they retired. It would run over $1000 per month. It does not cost anything near that while they are employed, so they are forced to stay.

The reform process has an outstanding start with Dennis Leone and John Lazares now on the board, but they desperately need other board members that are capable of seeing what has been going on there. We need to start taking back what we have so willingly gave away, our faith and trust in the people representing our future. If they will not willingly cut back and operate efficiently, then we need a board that will demand such and get results. Retirees should not be in the position we find ourselves in today.

At the retreat, some board members were concerned that other board members were trying to micromanage the operation of the STRS. Heavens, who would want to consider that possible action? Obviously, the current management has not provided us with what they were hired to accomplish. It is time that this be addressed. There have been hundreds of billions of dollars sent to the STRS since 1920. Those funds have been a continual flow of income. Each year probably showed an increase in contributions. I seriously doubt the management has ever had to worry about a decrease in contributions coming in, but that may have been the case sometime in the history of the STRS.

So, all they really had to do was manage our funds in a manner that would produce both a pension and affordable health care for us until we die. Why does that not seem so terribly hard for the level of talent we supposedly hire? We have been warned from day one about the quality of the staff. We have been warned not to upset them, or they will leave. Again I must ask: if they are so talented, why is the STRS in the financial situation it is in today? This does not make any sense to me. Are these people mismanaged? I someday will understand how this happened.

Take care,

Tom Curtis

CORE Advisory Committee Member