Letters sent September 24, 2022 to State Auditor Keith Faber, Governor Mike DeWine and Teachers of Ohio

 My letter to State Auditor Keith Faber

Dear Mr. Faber,

I am a retired teacher, having retired 24 years ago from the Columbus City Schools.

I can't tell you how much I appreciate your digging deeply into the books and practices of the STRS staff. STRS’ questionable accounting practices, lack of transparency, misreporting of investment performance and controversial staff salaries and bonuses have been a serious concern of many teachers for a long time. Your attention to these matters brings us new hope.

Many teachers have been badly hurt by STRS' management practices which have resulted in retirees being stripped of their COLA when inflation is raging out of control, and STRS is now forcing active teachers to pay heavily into the system (14% of their salaries) and work more years for their retirement benefits.

It hurts all of us when they turn around and pay their already very highly paid staff members a whopping $10 million in bonuses. They aren’t even thinking about the most elderly among us who retired many years ago on meager salaries and can't make ends meet today. There's no way those people can be expected to go back to work in their 80s, 90s and 100s.

Thank you for all you are doing for us. Many of us are part of the Facebook group Ohio STRS Member Only Forum, with a membership about to reach 30,000 very soon. That's a lot of votes in the upcoming election. It is our fervent hope that you and Governor DeWine will help us get things turned around at STRS, most notably bringing reform and new leadership to our pension system, both of which are badly needed.

Thank you again for taking on the job of looking into matters at STRS that affect Ohio's hard working teachers, past and present. I can't tell you how important your audit of STRS is to thousands who trusted STRS for many, many years, only to have that trust flagrantly violated and their promised retirement snatched away from them. We are looking to you to do the right thing for all of us. You can be sure we will remember you in November.

Katherine Bracy

 My letter to Governor Mike DeWine

Dear Governor DeWine,

Unless you're living under a rock, you know about the corruption going on at STRS with the STRS staff recently receiving close to $10 million in bonuses while retired teachers were stripped entirely of their COLA in 2017 (with a tiny bit returned in time for the last Board election) and active teachers now forced to pay 14% of their pay to STRS and are now forced to work more years for full retirement benefits. The most elderly retirees are hurting the most, having retired many years ago on meager salaries.

You need to help us. Please, at least make a public statement to the effect that new leadership and reform are badly needed at STRS. That would help. You do care about us, I hope. And that election is coming up soon. I am part of a Facebook group of teachers about to hit the 30,000 mark. That's a lot of votes. It's called Ohio STRS Member Only Forum.

Thank you.

Katherine Bracy

My letter to teachers 

TEACHERS, YOU ARE HIGHLY ENCOURAGED TO WRITE TO GOVERNOR MIKE DEWINE AND STATE AUDITOR KEITH FABER NOW

Below I have posted the text of an email ORTA sent to its members on September 23, 2022. I added the links. All STRS members are encouraged to write to the Governor, Mike DeWine, and the State Auditor, Keith Faber to enlist their help in bringing reform and new leadership to STRS. It is my hope that thousands of teachers, active and retired, will join in this effort. Every letter counts, and can affect your future. We specifically need to thank Mr. Faber for taking on the enormous task of looking into STRS' books and practices. Let him know you appreciate and are solidly behind him in his efforts.

From ORTA:

In case you missed it...

In an interview this week State Auditor Keith Faber shared that his year-long special audit of STRS is discovering “some worrisome things”.

The Auditor is quoted as saying, “We've got some concerns. I will just tell you that audit's going to have some concerns. We don't talk about audits while they're pending, but we have some concerns and things that we're identifying. But we are on it. We are working aggressively.”

Faber said the special audit should be done by the end of the year. He even went as far as to call for other oversight bodies to join him in taking a deeper look at the pension fund. We Agree!

We need our leaders and oversight authorities to shine sunlight on STRS’ questionable accounting practices, lack of transparency, misreporting of investment performance and controversial staff salaries and bonuses.

Earlier this year, Governor DeWine publicly supported the creation of this Special Audit Task Force… but has been noticeably silent since then.

Please join us in encouraging the Governor to publicly call for real reform and new leadership at STRS.

Click here to send the Governor a note.
https://governor.ohio.gov/contact  

Also please join us in letting State Auditor Faber know how much his efforts are appreciated and how important his audit of STRS is to thousands of active and retired teachers throughout the state.

Click here to send the State Auditor a note.
https://ohioauditor.gov/contact/inquiry.aspx  

To read the article in its entirety, click here.
https://woub.org/.../auditor-forecasts-concerns-about.../ 

Ohio Retired Teachers Association

250 E Wilson Bridge Rd, Worthington, OH 43085
614.431.7002
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