Cathy Steinhauser with some strong words for the STRS Board's performance and a word of advice: Do The Right Thing

Cathy Steinhauser - 35 yrs. teaching Family & Consumer Sciences as a satellite teacher w/Pickaway-Ross CTC.

Well here we are again. I'm pleased that some of the board members and the Director are beginning to use the word "fiduciary". However, there seems to be some misunderstanding about what a few of the words in the definition of fiduciary means:

"A person who acts on behalf of another person or persons, putting their client's interests ahead of their own, with a duty to preserve good faith and trust. Being a fiduciary requires being bound both LEGALLY AND ETHICALLY to act in others best interests."
Legally means: lawful or rightful
Ethically means: a discipline dealing with good and evil and with moral duty
Morals means: of or relating to principles of right and wrong or a standard of right behavior
Trust means: assured reliance on the character, strength or honesty of someone else
Good faith means: proper allegiance to duty
See a pattern??

The STRS members are realizing especially now, that many board members are lacking these qualities in operating STRS. You may know the difference between right and wrong but have not been putting the membership's interests ahead of your own. This pension has no room for a self-entitlement attitude. Voting AGAINST the membership time and time again in favor of the staff and the investment group is blatant disrespect, lack of ethics, honesty, and loyalty towards the very people you have been hired, appointed or voted in to oversee and protect our pension.

You keep information from us and when caught you back pedal, you do not tell the truth the majority of the time especially on social media and emails to membership, you have been given sound ideas about how to clean up the mess that you have made over the years from two board members and Ed Siedle and you ignore those ideas. It amazes me how you can dismiss the top forensic auditor in the country as not knowing what he's talking about yet you keep losing billions…can't you see the irony in your ignorance?? You are most content with things the way they are which has caused this pension loss of COLA and the billions lost through poor investing practices! Don't you know that get rich quick schemes never work?? You tried to placate the retirees by granting us a one-time bonus and then saying "we will revisit the COLA in the spring to determine if we will grant another". You have caused thousands of STRS retired members to live in borderline poverty if not at poverty level already due to no permanent COLA. It makes me sick to think that you go home every day and live your lives comfortably because STRS staff and investment staff got raises and bonuses and teachers are forced to live paycheck to paycheck most due to no fault of theirs. And you had the audacity to publish on the STRS Facebook page what teachers can do to save money and budget! You should take your own advice and live without extravagant raises and bonuses.

There has been published articles recently to inform Ohio citizens about the poor decisions that STRS has been making by way of investments. We are NOT the premier pension now that has been touted in the past. The word is getting out to the public and STRS members. My advice, and I'm sure I have the support of thousands of STRS members, is to do.the.right.thing. and make better decisions for this pension because you need to stop using it as your cash cow NOW! We won't forget PANDA POWER and now what about FTX with 125M loss or is it?? You have and continue to be exposed!!