Six years later and they're STILL in the same grade!

Memo from Gary Allen, June 17, 2003

Executive Committee, District Leaders, Local Presidents, OEA-R Advisory Council, STRS Board Members

From: Gary L. Allen, President
Re: STRS Health Care

Recently, Dennis Leone, superintendent of the Chillicothe school district, distributed via e-mail the statement and related report he presented to the board of the Ohio State Teachers Retirement System (STRS) on May 16, 2003. Some recipients have elected to indiscriminately broadcast the report despite its misrepresentations. In response to related inquiries from leaders and members, we are distributing the following statement.

If you are asked to respond to questions regarding Mr. Leone's report, I request that you use the following report to frame your response. The OEA is committed to protecting the pension benefits of current and future retirees and ensuring that they receive affordable, adequate, high quality health care. We believe that the STRS Board and staff are equally committed. We will continue to operate according to that principle.

If you have questions about this matter, please contact me or Bill Leibensperger, or of course, STRS.

Gary L. Allen

OEA Statement

As officers of the Ohio Education Association, we are very much aware of the allegations toward STRS contained in the document written and widely distributed by Dennis Leone, Superintendent of Chillicothe City Schools.

Despite his efforts to discredit STRS management, the OEA remains committed to working with STRS and its staff to find solutions to the health care crisis that is affecting our members. Especially through our work with the Health Care Advocates for STRS, the OEA's focus remains on fixing the problem, rather than fixing blame.

Although Mr. Leone's allegations raise concerns, many of the incidents he wants "corrected" occurred in the past and cannot be changed. The context in which he addresses these issues appears to be of his own creation. The STRS Board and management have addressed the issues Mr. Leone presents. These issues need to be reviewed continually and any resulting change needs to be for the benefit of current and future retirees. The present members of the STRS Board are committed to improving the operation of STRS. We encourage them to communicate these improvements to members. While improving its operation is important, STRS is finding solutions to the health care crisis for now and in the future. The OEA supports this effort.

Mr. Leone's motives for his decision to broadcast his claims far and wide are unclear. Much of his logic is difficult to follow. In contrast, the OEA's purpose and reasoning are clear: we will work with the Health Care Advocates and the STRS Board to protect and promote the welfare of current and future STRS beneficiaries. We respect that - first -- STRS must protect our guaranteed pensions, and recognize that the Board fulfills its fiduciary responsibility in doing so. Anyone can point fingers and create division, especially with the advantage of hindsight and when communicating about such an emotionally charged issue, but the OEA refuses to operate in that destructive way. We believe in the integrity of the State Teachers Retirement System and the individuals on the Board. We remain committed to working with them in a unified way to solve problems and create solutions for the benefit of our shared constituency.

[I love this sentence from Gary's memo: "We believe in the integrity of the State Teachers Retirement System and the individuals on the Board." Heck, weren't those the same Board members who either got kicked off the STRS Board (by the state legislature: Jim Petro and Betty Montgomery) or received criminal convictions three years later for ethics violations (OEA leaders who served on the STRS Board in 2003 or later: Hazel Sidaway, Jack Chapman, Eugene Norris, Debbie Scott and also former OEA president Mike Billirakis)? Gary Allen sure makes a mockery of the word "integrity," doesn't he? KBB]