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.

Bob Buerkle: Our STRS Board members chose to punish us, forcing us to pay for their investment mistakes as well as the cost of maintaining the 2.2% formula for future teachers

From Bob Buerkle

August 2, 2022

This part of her letter [above] says it all: "At the very least, teachers should have been grandfathered into the retirement they were told they would receive when they started". 

New York, Illinois and a number of other states have state constitutional protections for their teachers that the Ohio Constitution does not provide for us. That being the case does not mean that past STRS Board members could not have protected their teachers by grandfathering them, then instructing their actuaries to come up with alternatives for teachers hired in the future. 

Instead, our Board Members chose to punish us, forcing us to pay for their investment mistakes as well as the cost of maintaining the 2.2% formula for future teachers. 

Don't get me wrong. I believe that future teachers need a 2.2% formula, but the legislature and Ohio taxpayers should fund the cost, not current teachers and retirees!

Joe Lupo: It's time to tell the STRS Board to end the madness

From Joe Lupo

August 2, 2022

At the August STRS Board meeting, there will be a recommendation for approval of bonuses for staff.

It is time to end this ongoing madness and contact all the STRS Board members regarding their fiduciary responsibility to the members they represent and to vote NO.

It is time that the Board acts in the best interest of ALL members by protecting the present and future solvency of OUR pension system.

Anything less is unacceptable!

Special presentation to be presented by Edward Siedle on November 17; register here

From Cindy Murphy

August 1, 2022
Special presentation with Edward Siedle, author of Who Stole my Pension?

November 17, 2022 (Save the Date!)

1:00 PM – 2:00 PM Central Time 

Edward “Ted” Siedle, is a former attorney with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and America’s leading expert in pension looting. He has spent more than three decades forensically investigating over $1 trillion in retirement plans. In 2018, Ted secured the largest CFTC whistleblower award in history – $30 million and in 2017, the largest SEC whistleblower award – $48 million.

He was named as one of the 40 most influential people in the U.S. pension debate by Institutional Investor magazine for 2014 and 2015. Edward Siedle is the authority on DB (defined benefit) pensions for teachers, firefighters, police officers and those in public service and the military.

Ohio's active and retired teachers raised $75,000 to hire Edward "Ted" Siedle to perform a forensic investigation of STRS Ohio. Read Siedle's preliminary report at https://www.strsohiowatchdogs.com/forensic-audit .

Register for his presentation at 

https://ambabenefits.zoom.us/.../tJMvceuvqz0uH9EBrM6mJjoM....

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the meeting.