James Carr: The monstrosity on Broad Street that's eating up our money needs to be dismantled. It won't be easy, a lot of entrenched people who are heavily invested in maintaining the status quo are going to cry and moan. Do it anyway.

From James Carr

October 13, 2023

STRS DOES NOT NEED:

• A large security force. It's a retirement firm, not a bank.

• A PR team. If their actions alienate the membership, no amount of BS is going to make us happy.

• A fancy workplace. Their job is to provide basic services to teachers. They need a basic workplace, nothing more.

• A large crew of custodians. Move to a smaller facility and get by with a minimal custodial staff, just like schools do.

• A large crew of expensive investors. If they can't beat an S&P index fund, what's the point?

• Assistants serving other assistants. Does anyone even know what these multiple layers of assistants do?

• A concierge workforce. Sharpen your own pencils. Clean up your own coffee spills. Screw in your own light bulbs. If you don't know how, ask a teacher, they do it all the time.

I hope the reform Board members are making a list of things that need to be done. The monstrosity on Broad Street that's eating up our money needs to be dismantled. It won't be easy, a lot of entrenched people who are heavily invested in maintaining the status quo are going to cry and moan. Do it anyway.