Dean Dennis to STRS Board: When you do these things... an alarm sounds

Dean Dennis' speech to STRS Board

February 20, 2020

I am Dean Dennis, I retired after 35 years of service from the Cincinnati Public Schools. I currently serve as the STRS Chair for the Cincinnati Retirees Local 1520 and am also the Spokesperson for the STRS Ohio Member Only Forum on Facebook.

Additionally, I started the petition, Respect Ohio's Retired Teachers, Restore Their Promised COLA. I also started a recent petition, STRS, It's Our Money, Adopt a Reasonable Investment Return Assumption. The first petition has over 30,000 signatures, the second petition has over 5,000 signatures. You should visit these petitions. You might even consider signing them. I know that STRS spends over $25,000 for the Saperstein & Associates survey, which surveys over 300 members through carefully developed questions. STRS always reports members feel very satisfied with STRS. One would think all is well. However, Board Members should not overlook the two aforementioned surveys. These have over 35,000 signatures and contain frank, unsolicited comments from active and retired teachers. I won't summarize the comments. You owe it to yourself to read what they say. I think you also owe it to them.

Let's talk about our retired teachers. Using STRS statistics from the 2019 CAFR [Comprehensive Annual Financial Report], over 12,500 of our members have died since Board members decided to "adjust" the COLA; down to nothing. Considering we are 8 months into the 2020 fiscal year, the actual number of our deceased former colleagues is likely now over 15,000.

Over the past three fiscal years, the changes you sought have resulted in 500 more retirees who have died than have retired. Left behind are 15,000 spouses worrying if their loved ones' pensions will stand the test of time for their families.

When STRS breaks pension promises and passes measures to become financially healthier by adopting measures of addition through subtraction, when STRS rewards those who need it the least (their staff), at the expense of those who need it the most (retirees on a fixed income) an alarm sounds. When STRS sets a goal to become 85% funded, yet adopts an Investment Return Assumption more than 100 basis points below actual 30 year earnings, then uses this as a vehicle to rob retirees of their full pension and make active teachers work into their sixties, an alarm sounds. It's time for all of us to reflect because this just isn't right. I would hope we're all better than this. I dedicate this presentation to Ed Jaspers and Murray Grace, two dear friends who died in 2018; they were two gentle but strong men who worried that their pensions might not be enough to take care of their families.