Jim N. Reed to governor's legislative director Bill Hartnett re: vacant chair on STRS Board

From Jim N. Reed, January 30, 2008
Subject: Still no response for this 45-tear taxpayer and constituent
Mr. Hartnett, as a government teacher for 42 years I am appalled at the lack of communication coming from my elected officials regarding an issue that they have chosen to ignore and/or stonewall. I know that dozens and dozens of concerned Ohio retired educators have requested the Senate President and the Speaker of The House fill the one-year plus vacancy that exists on the STRS Ohio Board.

Many of us have also written to you or another representative of Governor Strickland to solicit Executive persuasion be exerted on behalf of 400,000 plus active and retired educators.

To my knowledge, we have received very little, if any, feedback from our elected officials on this critical issue.

The law calls for an eleven-member Board at STRS. The joint appointee to be chosen by the House Speaker and the Senate President is identified only by the empty chair in the STRS Boardroom.

This is an extremely critical appointment. The STRS Board has undergone an era of Renaissance since 2003 thanks to the election of a couple members who have researched, exposed, and partly realigned an out-of-touch retirement system. Retirees are desperate for this reform to continue but qualified, vested, caring leaders are essential for this to be continued.

Dr.Thomas Hall is an economics professor at Miami University. Dr. Hall is a published expert on economics and his credentials are unchallenged.

He has previously run for an STRS Board position and received a substantial number of votes, not enough to be elected but enough to recognize extensive support among STRS-literate educators.

How can it be that the welfare of 400,000 plus Ohio educators can continue to be ignored, not even deserving of a response? Worse, how can it be that someone as qualified and willing to serve on the STRS Board is forced to sit on the sidelines when he is desperately needed in the game?

Mr. Hartnett, I write to you, again, with the hope that Governor Strickland can recognize this issue as part of the broken education funding system in Ohio. Attracting prospective educators is becoming more and more difficult and respecting and rewarding those who serve and have served with some sense of security has diminished unashamedly. At the core of any revival of an effort to more equitably fund Ohio's public education system is open communication and transparency which will allow all the players in the challenge to have a seat at the table and be respectfully heard.

Mr. Hartnett, if nothing more comes of this correspondence than an affirmation that common courtesy demands a response to honest questioning of government decisions, or lack thereof, by a taxpaying and voting constituency than it has not been a total miscommunication.

I would be hard-pressed in my classroom to adequately explain the appalling absence of sensitivity to a public query by publicly elected senators and representatives in our General Assembly. Perhaps Ohio's Executive branch can teach the lesson with more wisdom than I could muster.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Jim N. Reed
42-year public school educator