Some pointed questions from active teacher Sherry Jackson for Mike Nehf and STRS Board re: bonuses, benefits and trust

From Sherry Jackson, April 6, 2009
Subject: Bonuses???!!

Dr. Nehf and STRS Board:

I am writing to question the bonuses that have been given to the following individuals during this time of great financial instability in our nation…are we congratulating them for STRS’s $33 BILLION loss? To give over $2,000,000.00 in bonuses and raises is the epitome of financial irresponsibility…and is beyond belief…because you are using MY retirement dollars, and the retirement dollars of my friends and colleagues, to fund these outrageous bonuses and raises! During difficult economic times, the prudent response should be to tighten one’s belt, as many in our nation are being forced to do, not give away over $2,000,000.00! (And the prudent response should not only be from STRS, but from the people who received these bonuses. If they are men and women of integrity, they should have refused to take this money!!) As well, in light of the fact that this kind of money was given away in bonuses and raises in the midst of uncertain and difficult financial times, I am wondering about the bonuses these people received before the bottom dropped out of our economy…were they more exorbitant that what I see on the chart below? I am appalled; I am distressed; I am disappointed; I am angry.

I would like for you to answer the following questions for me. Because you have been given the charge to handle my money and my future responsibly, I believe that you owe me the answers:

• Whose responsibility is it to make the decision to grant bonuses?

• For how many years have these bonuses been given, and were they as large as the amounts shown below?

• Will retired teachers be receiving a “bonus” in their retirement pay?

• In the light of the current economic difficulties we are all facing, does STRS plan to reduce any benefits to retired Ohio teachers?

• How will all of this affect the current teaching workforce…and will current teachers be able to retire with the same benefits as teachers who have retired within the past 10 years or are retiring today?

I have always felt “safe” about my future because I have always felt good about STRS. I believed that the “responsible parties” who are handling my money were working FOR me, and not AGAINST me. I have lost faith in STRS. You have shown yourself to me to be as greedy as AIG and other companies who have been doing outrageous things with my money. This leads to my final question:

• How do you plan to re-establish trust…what will you do to help me be able to trust that you are using MY money responsibly so that MY future, and the futures of my friends and colleagues, will be secure?

I look forward to hearing your response.

Sherry K. Jackson, Career Specialist
Hamilton, OH 45011