STRS management on hot seat at Sidney town hall meeting

Teachers upset about STRS management
By Kyle Shaner
kshaner@sdnccg.com
Sidney Daily News, June 15, 2009
If changes are not made to Ohio's teacher retirement system, the program will run out of money and none of the state's active or retired teachers will receive a pension, teachers were told Friday in Sidney.
Hundreds of active and retired teachers from across the state gathered at Sidney High School Friday afternoon to discuss the problems their retirement system faces with members of the State Teachers' Retirement System of Ohio (STRS) Retirement Board in a town hall meeting.
Retirement Board Executive Director Michael J. Nehf said to ensure teachers will continue to receive pensions after they retire, changes will have to be made to the system such as raising the retirement age, increasing teachers' contributions to the fund and reducing the amount retired teachers receive in pension.
"Investment returns alone won't get us out," Nehf said.
While representatives of the teachers acknowledged concessions would have to be made, they also challenged the effectiveness and attitudes of STRS.
"I think they kind of forgot who they're working for," Leon Knore, former Versailles principal, said.
Knore presented statistics from the STRS that showed the group's assets declined from more than $80 billion on Oct. 31, 2007, to $51 billion on May 15.
Despite the drop in funds, Knore said, STRS investment associates still received performance-based incentives. Two STRS associates were compensated more than $500,000 each last year while 769 retired teachers received pensions less than the federal self-sufficiency level of $21,660 a year, he said.
"We have a big concern with our STRS system," Knore said.
With teachers being presented with figures that showed they would have to make sacrifices while STRS employees continued to receive big money, active and retired educators stood and expressed their outrage with the STRS.
Jim Conard, former superintendent of Chillicothe Schools, said STRS representatives were only talking about cutting from teachers and not from STRS. When he asked if any teachers had ever received a bonus, many of the educators in the crowd laughed.
Nehf said the group has made changes such as implementing a hiring freeze that reduced its staff from more than 700 to fewer than 600, implementing a salary freeze and limiting travel.
"If we all pitch in, I think we'll be able to maintain a STRS retirement pension," Nehf said.
Nehf said Ohio is among the top 25 percent in the nation for teachers' pensions and he expects that to continue.
However, as Nehf addressed the teachers' concerns, some yelled out that STRS is still not doing enough and accused him of avoiding questions about STRS employees taking pay cuts.
Knore presented figures that showed 21 STRS employees made between $175,000 and $270,000 in 2008. In comparison, the governor made $144,830 and the U.S. treasurer made $191,300 last year.
Dennis Leone, a representative of retired teachers on the STRS Retirement Board since 2005, received large applause multiple times throughout the meeting, including when he said STRS needs staff and wage reductions. Leone said changes at STRS have been met with resistance, and he has been verbally attacked for criticizing the group.
With the meeting being a town hall-style, no action was taken to resolve the disputes between the teachers and STRS. Nehf said teachers could expect a lot of changes to occur in the next several months.
Any changes will have to be approved by the state Legislature, which was represented at the meeting by three state representatives and a senator.