Dean Dennis: A letter to Ohio's Elected Officials

December 9, 2021

Dear Elected Official,

As a Member of the Ohio Retired Teachers Association (ORTA), founder of the STRS Ohio Watchdogs and Ohio STRS Member Only Forum moderator, there is an urgent matter Ohio Legislators must address. There are approximately 500,000 STRS members being negatively impacted the stagnant Employer Contribution Rate. This can no longer be ignored.

Currently, Representative Brian Baldridge and Cindy Abrams are drafting legislation
proposing the Police and Fire Employer Contribution Rate be raised to 26.5% from their current respective rates of 19.5% and 24%. Ignored in this legislation are Ohio's teachers, both active and retired.

Read what is being said nationally about STRS Ohio, "To be honest, it's hard to even call this a "retirement" system at all. The system is functioning like a debt accumulation tool and a tax on teachers, with retirement benefits on the side." Here is another quote with national exposure, "Another way to say this is that the majority of the worst-performing states are all non-Social Security states. Under Ohio's defined benefit pension plan, for example, teachers are not getting any employer-provided retirement benefits at all."

All of the above is true. Ohio's active teachers are only receiving 76 cents for every dollar they contribute towards their pension. Ohio's retired teachers have gone 6 years without a COLA, after first being reduced by a third. None of the other four pension systems in Ohio have been neglected like STRS. The STRS Ohio Employer Contribution has been frozen at 14% for 38 years. This has contributed to an annual $4 billion cash-flow shortfall problem. To put the neglect of our pension system into perspective, when the Ohio Employer Contribution rate of 14% is compared to peers (other non-Social Security states) the Ohio's Employer Contribution rate is behind by nearly 10%. In other words, our Employer Contribution Rate should be north of 20%. Basically, our Employers contribute the least, while our Employees contribute the most. If Ohio can't strive to be the best funded teacher pension system in the United States, perhaps we can strive for not being the worst.

Now that you know the facts, what will each of you do? Ignore the problem, or take action? Will you sign up to take action to help Ohio's active and retired teachers?

This letter will be posted on the STRS Ohio Watchdogs website until legislative action is taken.

Sincerely,

Dean Dennis

Sources:

Technically Speaking, Ohio School Districts Don't Contribute to Ohio Teacher Pension Benefits

Which States Have the Best (and Worst) Teacher Retirement Plans?