An active teacher's letter to the STRS Board: Consider the people you work for and do not vote yes on raises and bonuses at the August Board meeting

August 1, 2022

Hello,

I have taught in Ohio for almost a quarter of a century and during the time I have been teaching, my retirement has become worse and worse. I am paying more, working longer, and will receive less upon my retirement than I was told when I started teaching. STRS has framed it as us making sacrifices for the greater good, which I can understand, but STRS has also made poor investments with our money, has given significant bonuses/raises to themselves, and STRS has amenities in their facility that teachers can only dream of. 

I respectfully ask that you consider the people you work for and do not vote yes on raises and bonuses at your August meeting. What STRS has done to the teachers in Ohio is shameful and for me personally, it is a reason I sometimes wish I had not gone into education in the first place. I know of no teachers who do their job to become rich but we deserve more than what STRS has done for us. At the very least, teachers should have been grandfathered into the retirement they were told they would receive when they started. 

Please do what is right by the teachers who have worked so hard for their retirement. A lot of us do not have the option to leave the field since we have too much invested already. We have had to make concessions, please make some as well. 

Thank you.