Letter to editor in Columbus Dispatch re: STRS Bonuses

From John Curry, December 17, 2009

Pension fund officers don't deserve bonus
Columbus Dispatch, December 16, 2009

I hope the news media will stay alert to what is happening at the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio. It carefully discussed, in a recent news release, the changes it has made to the performance-based incentive bonuses paid to its 80 to 90 investment officers. These bonuses are being paid in the face of drastic cuts in every avenue of our retirement.

The required years of service, the average salary formula, the cost of living to our retirees and the amount of retirement contributions made by not only the teachers, but also by the boards of education, will be increased by 5 percent.

My question is, why are these people being rewarded for losing hundreds of millions of dollars while the people who own the State Teachers Retirement System have no say in who gets what?

I have worked on jobs where incentive pay was awarded, but only when our work showed an increase above a certain level.

The whole purpose of incentive pay is to provide a reward for having production exceed a threshold, not just because it is the end of the calendar year.

PAUL E. SITES
Jackson

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/editorials/stories/2009/12/16/Sites_ART_12-16-09_A10_9PG0Q0P.html?sid=101