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James McGreevy -- Candidate for STRS Board (Retired Seat)

Endorsed by: " OEA/OEA-Retired " Ohio Federation of Teachers " CORE (Concerned Ohio Retired Educators)

My priorities for STRS are:

1. Health Care -- Unless a dependable, adequate revenue stream to fund health care can be secured, this important benefit is in jeopardy of being eliminated in a very few years. The recent credit and equity market problems, combined with a continued high rate of medical care inflation, have accelerated the decline in the Health Care Stabilization Fund. Legislation to provide additional funds will be a hard sell in these tough economic times. Although health care is not guaranteed for STRS benefit recipients, retirees know there is no secure retirement without health care. A solution must be found.

2. Pension Funding -- STRS total fund assets have dropped precipitously in the past year. As a long-term investor, STRS has the resources to weather this downturn, but prudent management of its funds and increased attention to investment policy and asset allocation should be a major focus of the Board's work.

3. Defense of Defined Benefit Pension Plans -- In the past few years, defined benefit pensions like STRS have come under attack in a variety of ways. Public sector pension systems have seen politicians demand divestment of stocks, without regard for the impact on our assets, in order to further some political, foreign policy, or cultural agenda. Defined contribution programs have been pushed in the hope of driving down costs, disregarding the facts that such programs do not provide an adequate income for retirement and are actually more expensive. For-profit charter schools undermine teacher salaries, reducing contributions to STRS. Social Security "reformers" continue to propose mandatory coverage that would ultimately dismantle pension systems like STRS. These assaults represent greater threats to teachers' retirement security than stock market crashes, terrorist attacks, or bad investment choices, and we must be vigilant in fending them off.

Candidate's Background Information

STRS
2008 Awarded The International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans' Certificate of Achievement in Public Plan Policy (CAPPP) following training and examinations on pensions and health care

2008 Attended Ohio Forum for Pensions

2005 - Present Attended STRS Board Meetings, Retreats, and Special Health Care Committee meetings as OEA-R representative

2007 - Present Health Care Champion for STRS - in support of HB 315

NEA/OEA/EOEA/MEEA
2006 - Present OEA Board of Directors, OEA-R representative
2000 - 2003 OEA - Audit Committee Chair
2000 - 2003 OEA Program & Budget Committee Vice-Chair
1997 - 2003 OEA Board of Directors - EOEA Representative
1997 - 2003 OEA Program & Budget Subcommittee
1995 - 1997 EOEA District Vice-President
1978 - 1997 Mid-East Education Association - various executive offices and lead negotiator on three master contracts

Other Experience
1985 - 1993 MCS Employees Credit Union - Board of Directors, Treasurer
(MCSECU was a multi-county teachers credit union that merged with the Ohio Educational Credit Union in the 1990's)
1980 - 1984 Corporate officer and assistant manager of family-owned wholesale beer distribution business.

Community
1997 - 2008 Festival of Learning, Cambridge, Ohio - Steering Committee
2005 - 2008 OSU Alumni Association of Muskingum County - Board of Directors, Scholarship Committee Chair

Education
1970, 1975 The Ohio State University, B.S., M.A.

Employment
1970 - 2005 Mid-East Career & Technology Centers, Social Studies Teacher
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