From Rudy Fichtenbaum: An eye-opening video all teachers need to see, and the key to saving our pension

December 27, 2021

And what is this key to saving our pension? Teacher (active and retired) activism! AND two more things: (1)  informed voting in STRS elections (often meaning, for one thing, why OEA-backed candidates are almost always NOT the people who have your best interests in mind) and (2) being willing to protest at the Ohio Statehouse, if necessary. 

Where can OEA members (and others) get information about candidates other than those OEA throws in your face at YOUR expense (like $150,000 of your money for the upcoming STRS Board election)? Two sources come to mind: the Facebook group Ohio STRS Member Only Forum, open to all STRS members, currently over 18,400 members strong) and Kathie Bracy's Blog, which contains plenty of information about where your hard-earned money is going (probably not where you think). If you can't remember the name of this blog, Google "STRS blog". It usually comes right up. 

Here is the link to the video that Rudy feels is well worth watching; it is a real eye-opener:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_r0htm5uHPQ&t=2722s 

If Ohio's teachers don't save their pension before STRS squanders it all away, who WILL save it?

Yes, those people you trusted at STRS are squandering your money, getting rich on your dollar, but not making you rich or even comfortable in your retirement. They are stealing BILLIONS from you and making active teachers work all those extra years -- for THEMSELVES, NOT for those hard working teachers, all the while stealing our COLA from every one of us.

We're all in this together; a few people can't do it alone -- it takes ALL of us to save our pension. Wake up, people -- STRS is robbing you BLIND! It's happening NOW. Remember, STRS is the ONLY pension system of the Big Five that is NOT providing a COLA, yet they brag all the time about how they're raking in tons of money. Where is it going? Into THEIR pockets, not yours! Now do yourself a favor and go back and click on that video.

Dr. Rudy Fichtenbaum is Professor Emeritus of Economics at Wright State University. He is an elected member of the STRS Ohio Board, filling a retiree seat since September 2021. He and Wade Steen are the two outspoken Board members who are pushing for reform on behalf of both active and retired teachers, constantly bucking OEA-backed Board members who follow the dictates of OEA instead of advocating solely for the STRS stakeholders.