Note: I've known Tom since he was five years old and I was his teenage babysitter (along with my three sisters), living in the same hometown, Alliance. Going off to college, then out of state for my music career, I didn't see him for many, many years. Then later, back in Ohio, I started seeing his name in the newspapers in 2003 as a reform activist with CORE (Concerned Ohio Retired Educators, now defunct), along with Dr. Dennis Leone's, working to reform STRS. Living in Columbus, I decided to start attending STRS Board meetings, and it wasn't long before Tom and I met up again and started a new friendship, working toward the same goals in the effort to bring about change. He knows a lot of STRS history, having lived through those early, tumultuous years. KBB
From Tom Curtis
December 20, 2021
My Involvement Concerning STRS Reform
I retired from Plain Local Schools in Canton OH in 1998 on a disability retirement. I taught high school industrial technology for 27 years.
In early 2003 I learned of Dr. Dennis Leone’s reform document. In August of 2003 a small group of retired teachers from Plain Local got a permit and organized a rally in front of the Capital Building, which brought out nearly a thousand teachers. We then marched on STRS. Herb Dyer, the executive director at that time, was furious that we had filled “his boardroom” and many other rooms with hundreds of disgruntled teachers. He told all of us to go home and stay home, that everything was fine at STRS. Obviously, we did not listen and for good reason.
I started attending all Board meetings in early 2003 and continued for the next 3-1/2 years, in support of Dr. Leone’s efforts to bring about change. After 3-1/2 years I could not stomach the corruption and stopped attending meetings, but stayed involved behind the scenes.
A small group of retirees initiated the beginnings of the support group CORE. We never received the support of much of the membership, as STRS/OEA constantly discredited Dr. Leone and CORE. At that time, ORTA would not support us either. Dr. Robin Rayfield has changed all of that.
The Board consisted of nine members in 2003. Five were OEA-supported Board members, one of which, Mike Billirakis was the past OEA president. OEA controlled the Board and always has. Dr. Leone found that the Board had voted “yes” for three prior years to all of the misspending and mismanagement. They were also unethically using funds to travel all over the country for seminars. Many spent in excess of $50,000 over a 3-year period. They only paid a small price for their greed.
Because of this imbalance on the Board, Dr. Leone helped draft Bill 133 that brought reform to the STRS Board. I presented a statement Dr. Leone had drafted thanking the committee for the changes being made and was involved in the signing of Bill 133 by the Gov. Bob Taft. That bill changed the Board to its current number of 11 members, which added a second retiree seat and outside financial specialists.
CORE continued our support and was very instrumental in getting two non-OEA members elected to the board, John Lazarus and then Dr. Dennis Leone. The OEA was furious and vowed that this would not happen again. Dr. Leone and CORE brought about many changes. We were able to push for ethics violations and convictions for all of the Board members and Herb Dyer. However, once Lazarus and Leone were off of the Board, STRS went back to business as usual.
It has been a long road trying to stop the corruption at STRS, but with the support of ORTA, STRS Watchdogs.com, Ohio STRS Members Only Forum and the STRS membership, this upcoming election could bring about big changes. We will need the unity of all of the actives and retirees to bring this about. Never give up the fight!
OEA is, and always has been, the problem! They essentially have approved all of the corruption. It is time it has stopped!
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