ACTION NEEDED: STRS Board of Directors Has Run Out of Excuses

PETITION UPDATE

Dean Dennis

Cincinnati, OH

JUL 12, 2018 — As of this posting the Respect Ohio's Retired Teachers petition has 8,920 signatures. While good, more signatures are needed. A goal of 10,000 signatures is desired before the end of August when the Ohio Legislature returns back to session and before the Ohio STRS Board meets on August 16. 

While everyone who is receiving this Update has signed the petition, we are asking everyone to try their best to share the petition  www.restoreourcola.com on their social media pages such as Facebook. Here is why: 

The Ohio STRS fiscal year just ended on June 30, 2018. Over the past two years, STRS investments respectively earned a return of 14.29% for 2017, and a return of 9.5% for 2018. However, STRS only projected investment earnings return of 7.45%, for each of the past two years. 

The current STRS Board of Directors allowed STRS management to deliberately underestimate their historical investment earnings projections. The earnings are always above 8% for their required 30 year funding period. But, the STRS Board of Directors allowed STRS management to assume 7.45%. In turn, this allowed STRS to claim they needed to withhold retired teacher's promised cost-of-living-adjustment. The result, retired teachers were wrongly being robbed of $1,000's of dollars that they will never recover. 

Then shockingly, the STRS Board of Directors approved huge annual performance incentive bonuses, dozens, exceeding $100,000 to STRS employees. 

On August 16, with your help, we will attempt to end this nightmare for Ohio's retired teachers. The STRS Board of Directors will once again be confronted, but this time more people will be watching. Let's see if they can find it within themselves to vote to restore the COLA for retired teachers. Again, please share the petition, www.restoreourcola.com