Grandparents again.....

February 11, 2012

Congratulations to (former STRS Board member) Dennis and Nikki Leone, who became the proud grandparents of two granddaughters, born ten hours apart (February 9 and 10) to their daughters in Colorado and Ohio! Yes, there was some pretty wild scrambling by several grandparents to help out with both babies' two-year-old brothers to free up the daddies in all the excitement, particularly since the due dates had been about two weeks apart. Everybody is doing just fine, though I suspect the grandparents may have acquired a few more gray hairs in the last few days.

STRS Board to meet February 15-16, 2012

From STRS, February 8, 2012

PUBLIC MEETING NOTICE

The State Teachers Retirement Board and Committee meetings currently scheduled at the STRS Ohio offices, 275 East Broad Street, Columbus, Ohio 43215, are as follows:

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

...10 a.m. Disability Review Panel and Final Average Salary Committee (Executive Session)

Thursday, February 16, 2012

...9 a.m. Retirement Board Meeting

The Retirement Board meeting will come to order on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012, and begin with a Report From the Finance Department followed by the next segment of the Asset/Liability Study, a Report From the Investment Department, the Executive Director's Report, public participation, resumption of the Finance Department, a Report From the Member Benefits Department - Health Care, routine matters, old business, new business and any other matters requiring attention.

Hey, Governor, you can run (clear to Steubenville), but you can't hide!

Steubenville 2.7.12 at Gov. Kasich's State-of-the State address

Tom Harker and a song for Gov. Kasich 2.7.12, Steubenville, OH

Minutes for the January 19, 2012 CORE Meeting

From CORE, February 5, 2012

After President Dave Parshall opened the January Concerned Ohio Retired Educators (CORE) meeting at 12:25, Kathie Bracy moved that we suspend reading of November minutes since people had already read them either online or on paper prior to the opening of the meeting. The nine attendees approved her suggestion.

President Parshall declared that the treasury was the same. Along the line of treasury information, he let the group know that he’ll be checking again with our attorney about our tax status.

A lengthy discussion about ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council) and its effects on Ohio legislation and CORE ensued. A consensus was reached that it does appear that there are forces out there who’d like to destroy public education.

The members also discussed teacher evaluations…and how teachers and retirees should be asked for input and help.

President Dave reminded the group that once we know precisely the direction the pension reform is headed, we'll need to spring into action. Retirees will be called upon to write letters, call, visit legislators, and even knock on doors.

All members are encouraged to e-mail or call President Dave with items that you’d like to have discussed and/or explored at CORE meetings. That way when he prepares the agenda for the meeting, he can insert your suggestions and plan to have time for adequate discussion. Time is often limited and sometimes things get rushed in order for members to go back upstairs to the afternoon session of the STRS Board meeting, so having specific items ahead of time helps us stick to a limited time frame.

The meeting adjourned at 1:25 with President Parshall reminding the members that our next meeting would be in April - although retirees might want to attend the STRS Board Meeting in February and/or March.

Respectfully submitted,
Marie M. Fetters
CORE Secretary