Trina Prufer on Bill Neville: This is a man who has compartmentalized, refuses to accept responsibility for and will do nothing of any significance to help teachers. You CANNOT solve a problem that you do not even believe IS a problem.

From Trina Kay Prufer

September 28, 2023

Yesterday’s Town Hall in Beachwood - First and foremost, I want to thank Sheryl Butler for reaching out to me, and for her kind hospitality and support, as I attended yesterday’s meeting as her guest. There was no problem at all getting in, as we came early, and in fact we were the first ones in the room.

I did want to address the few minutes I had with Mr. Neville after the meeting, to give everyone an idea of my impressions and where he is coming from. Although he appears outwardly willing to engage in discussion with teachers, there is no empathy, understanding, comprehension or acknowledgment of the magnitude of the problem. He, and STRS as an organization, does not care that 150K teachers have been left without inflation protection, which means a significantly diminished monthly income in advanced age. I believe I used the word ” ticking time bomb”, which was ignored. He used the word ”emotional” to describe some responses, which I took to mean he is unmoved by the misery. This is a man who has compartmentalized, refuses to accept responsibility for and will do nothing of any significance to help teachers. You CANNOT solve a problem that you do not even believe IS a problem.

So, what is his viewpoint as to why it was OK to remove the cola after teachers had planned their financial lives on STRS assurances? His answer to me was very simple, cold, brief and straightforward… the cola had been changed 17 times in the 100 year history of STRS, and so that was always a possibility and STRS had the authority to do so. Although not directly stated, the implication was that we should have known this. That was it…. That is what, in his mind, justifies the carnage to our financial security.

As I had my iPad with me, which contained all the STRS documentation, I showed him the wording in the Summary Plans we all have. I even showed him the assurances that the benefit was pre-funded. He told me he was not familiar with the term “pre-funded cola“. None of this matters to Neville or STRS. It was like talking to a stone.

My only hope is that some of this might help us in moving forward. There are so many holes in his position, and it is such an affront to common decency, that perhaps we can craft a powerful counter-response with facts, figures and legal arguments. What we can’t count on is any normal human response to this travesty.