Larry and Leslie Snyder to Mike Nehf: Cut administrative costs, not retiree benefits

From Larry and Leslie Snyder, June 21, 2009
Subject: Keeping STRS viable

Dear Mr. Nehf,

I am writing on behalf of retired as well as current teachers. My husband and I are both retired...but we are not just grumpy, old people. Our daughter is a current teacher in the Worthington Schools so we have a perspective that may be broader than that of some retired teachers. We want the retirement system to be viable for her and all active teachers as well as for current retirees.

We have always been pleased with the treatment and information that STRS counselors have given us at meetings when we have come to the office, but we have been astonished at the extravagance of the building, the guard who directs visitors and unlocks the doors, and the opulence of the setting with the expensive art and fountain. Certainly, we do not expect STRS employees to work in poor surroundings, but they work in a palace compared to public schools in Ohio. The salaries of many of the staff are also extravagant compared to those of life-long educators who spend countless hours both in the school buildings and in homes planning lessons, grading papers and communicating with parents in order to teach Ohio's young people. Something is not right when STRS employees make no sacrifice while the board and the powers-that-be expect teachers - both active and retired - to do so. A little fairness and even handedness would be a welcomed respite.

As to the bonuses that are scheduled to be paid to the investment people - they need to be stopped. We understand that our system may have lost less than the market by a small percentage, but that is a poor excuse. The investment people lost $29 billion, yet justify bonuses by pointing out that these losses are less than the Dow, etc. Baloney! They also suggest that we will not have the best investors if we stop bonuses. Again, baloney. In this economy, they are lucky to have jobs that pay their basic salary so well. Anyone who wants to leave because of no bonus should do so - plenty of other investment people are looking for jobs. No bonus should be paid until the fund recovers all the way to $80 billion. If HB 177 passes, the bonus issue will be out of your hands; wouldn't the board gain significant PR by eliminating bonuses before that occurs? Please use common sense and serve your constituents - both retired and active - by supporting the discontinuation of bonuses until the fund is viable.

I have read a number of emails and letters sent to you by other retirees that contain reasonable suggestions of ways the staff at STRS could tighten their belts. Why don't you and the board consider them? If you really have the welfare of the people you are supposed to serve - active and retired teachers - you should consider all options as ways to save money. Have you and your staff ever brainstormed ways to decrease costs? Administrators and staffs must do this frequently when dealing with lack of funds for their school systems when levies are defeated. I bet your employees know of waste that could be cut - you just need to ask them. The counselors with whom we have worked have been smart and creative people. Why not tap their expertise? Instead of eliminating COLA for retirees which would be the easy solution for those who make the decisions, why not think "outside the box" for other ways, particularly because of the increases in the cost of health care that we all are facing? Be brave. Be creative. Be caring of others.

Certainly, you are being flooded with emails complaining about how the board and you are handling the current fiscal problems, but we wanted to add our displeasure as well, not with the most of the employees of STRS, but with the people in power who seem to care little for those you serve. That is a shame.

We hope you and the board will do "the right thing" by cutting costs of business rather than by decreasing the benefits of those who spent their lives serving Ohio's children and believing in the security of their retirements because of reassurance from STRS until only a couple of months ago.

Sincerely,
Larry and Leslie Snyder
Columbus, OH